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Doctrine Chrétienne", although it did not open until her 20s. At 18 years old, she married a rabbi named Moïse Amar. The couple had three children: a daughter, who died at eleven years old; a son, Jacob-Raymond (1902-1987); another daughter
Mireille (1908-1930). Jacob-Raymond became also a writer and a journalist better known as Roland Rhaïs. He was one of the few Algerian Jews to obtain Algerian nationality after the independence.
287:
465:
In 1982, Paul Tabet, the son of Raoul Tabet, who was both the nephew and the lover of Rhaïs, published at
Grasset a book in which he affirmed that his father confessed to him that he was the real author of the novels attributed to Rhaïs. This book caused a sensation in the media and Paul Tabet was
222:
was a bestseller, eventually running to twenty-six editions. From this time, Rhaïs began to present herself as a Muslim woman who had escaped from a harem, but how instrumental she was in this new persona's construction, or indeed whether she wrote the book and the others that followed at all, has
169:
to a Jewish family of modest means. Her father, Jacob, was a baker and her mother, Mazaltov (born Seror) was a housewife. She went to a local school until she was placed as a domestic in a Jewish family at the age of twelve. Later, she claimed she had attended the "École des
Religieuses de la
266:". She spoke out against the emancipation of Arab women, noting in Turkey it had led to "widespread immorality". Her popularity in France waned from around 1930, which coincided with the death of her daughter and increasing criticism of the persona in Algeria. Rhaïs retired from public life.
177:
in
Algiers, where she opened a literary salon. She became known as a storyteller, claiming that her stories were passed down to her by her mother and grandmother, and therefore part of the rich folk heritage of her native region. She was encouraged by literary critics, such as
147:
writer, who adopted the persona of a Muslim woman who had escaped from a harem to further her literary career. Her novels were popular in her lifetime, but declined; interest in her life was revived in the 1980s by a claim that all her publications had been
440:“It seems that in France, we love the Moors in all conditions. This is why there is an old Jewess, a former rabbi's wife, who masquerades as an Arab, and falsely tells stories about our race and our traditions. She thus earns a lot of money, she says."
33:
424:
Whilst popular at the time, her novels were not critically acclaimed. They have been accused of perpetuating stereotypes of Muslim sexuality. Her works were more popular in France than
Algeria, but she did have support there from Robert Randau
226:
From 1919 to 1930, numerous novels, novellas and short stories were published under Elissa Rhaïs' name, mostly romances that are set in an exotic north
African settings featuring female heroines and Muslim culture in the period surrounding the
474:
on 7 May 1982. However, the majority of academic critics specializing in French-speaking
Maghreb literature, consider Tabet's allegations to be unlikely. Denise Brahimi, writing in the introduction entitled
223:
been questioned. It has been suggested that her new identity was created as marketing ploy orchestrated by Louis
Bertrand and René Doumic; alternatively that it was an invention of Rhaïs herself.
453:
literature, as an early female Jewish-Algerian writer. However her life has continued to be a source of intrigue and fantasy in the media, due to the publication of the novel
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888: ; Responsible for the volume: Giuliana Toso-Rodinis; publisher: Centro Stampa di Palazzo Maldura; Padua; 1984; pages: 463 to 471
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Rosine
Boumendil and Amar divorced when she was 38 and she remarried a merchant, Mordecai Chemouil. They lived in a villa called the
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and Muslim clothing, suggesting an exotic background which was popularised with a cultural fascination at the time for all things "
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Regardless of the situation that the novels were produced in, Rhaïs has an important place in
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Rhaïs did establish a literary salon in Paris, which was frequented by writers such as
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who shortly after published five of her short stories. Subsequently, her first novel,
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In 1919 Boumendil moved to Paris to pursue a literary career. The novelist and critic
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218:, a Parisian publishing house, using for the first time her pseudonym, Elissa Rhaïs.
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lorcin, patricia m e (2012), Akyeampong, Emmanuel K; Gates, Henry Louis (eds.),
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783:"An Unknown Maghrebian Genre: Judeo-Maghrebian Literature of French Expression"
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At the time there was some doubt about her authenticity, with the novelist
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696:"Manipulating Elissa: the uses and abuses of Elissa Rhaïs and her works"
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author: Lucienne Favre; editor: Bernard
Grasset; 1930; ASIN: B00183RZQK
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During the 1930s, Rhaïs' popularity waned and she returned to live in
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490:), based on the book by Paul Tabet but in a romanticized way.
856:"Grandeur d'âme, exubérance des sens et sentiments exacerbés"
231:. Some of her work reflected current affairs: for example
640:"Elissa Rhaïs: Scandals, Impostures, Who Owns the Story?"
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Dictionnaire des auteurs maghrébins de langue française
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was filmed in 1993 by the director Jacques Otmezguine (
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Proceedings of the World Congress of French Literature
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165:Rosine Boumendil was born on 12 December 1876 in
756:Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée
752:"Élissa Rhaïs, conteuse algérienne (1876 -1940)"
202:had written a letter of introduction for her to
182:, to send her stories to literary magazines.
8:
694:Lorcin, Patricia M. E. (1 December 2012).
457:and the subsequent television production.
258:. There, Rhaïs dressed in combinations of
143:(12 December 1876 – 18 August 1940) was a
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781:Dugas, Guy; Geesey, Patricia (1992).
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957:Algerian-Jewish diaspora in France
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415:du 15 April 1939 at 24 April 1939
522:(in French). KARTHALA Editions.
386:Le parfum, la femme et la prière
787:Research in African Literatures
644:Research in African Literatures
566:Dictionary of African Biography
516:Déjeux, Jean (1 January 1984).
313:Les Juifs ou la fille d’Eléazar
235:(1929) was a novel set in the
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967:Women writers (modern period)
152:and that she was illiterate.
712:10.1080/13629387.2012.723436
479:speaks of "a poor scandal".
331:La Chemise qui porte bonheur
290:Elissa Rhais – Cafe chantant
568:, Oxford University Press,
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638:Rosello, Mireille (2006).
925:Cite uses generic title (
823:Elissa Rhaïs : roman
355:Par la voix de la musique
254:, as well as the actress
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484:Le secret d'Elissa Rhaïs
768:10.3406/remmm.1984.2021
615:Jewish Women's Archive
455:Elissa Rhaïs, un roman
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208:Revue des Deux Mondes,
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16:Jewish-Algerian writer
826:. Paris: B. Grasset.
820:Tabet, Paul. (1982).
750:Déjeux, Jean (1984).
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367:Petits Pachas en exil
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194:Elissa Rhais- Eleazar
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399:Enfants de Palestine
343:Le Mariage de Hanifa
206:, the editor of the
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319:La Fille des pachas
972:Algerian novelists
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220:Saada the Moroccan
212:Saada the Moroccan
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122:Saâda the Moroccan
962:People from Blida
899:"Wikiwix's cache"
583:978-0-19-538207-5
529:978-2-86537-085-6
477:Lire Elissa Rhaïs
325:La Fille du douar
214:was published by
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307:Le Café chantant
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141:Rosine Boumendil
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349:Le Sein blanc
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80:Elissa Rhaïs
66:(1940-08-18)
25:Elissa Rhaïs
18:
952:1940 deaths
947:1876 births
650:(1): 1–15.
472:Apostrophes
361:La Riffaine
337:L'Andalouse
248:Paul Morand
233:La riffaine
204:René Doumic
101:Citizenship
941:Categories
908:17 January
870:17 January
620:15 January
589:15 January
494:References
436:, writing:
413:Le Journal
270:Later life
161:Early life
137:אליסה ראיס
85:Occupation
48:1876-12-12
799:0034-5210
728:143680947
720:1362-9387
656:0034-5210
420:Reception
156:Biography
918:cite web
864:Archived
264:Oriental
139:), born
93:Language
77:Pen name
842:9895728
807:3820391
664:3821114
401:in the
380:Theatre
244:Colette
237:Rif War
114:Romance
105:Algeria
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662:
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526:
445:Legacy
409:Judith
388:(1933)
295:Novels
260:Berber
133:Hebrew
96:French
88:Writer
803:JSTOR
724:S2CID
660:JSTOR
301:Saâda
276:Blida
167:Blida
111:Genre
71:Blida
55:Blida
927:help
910:2021
872:2021
838:OCLC
828:ISBN
795:ISSN
716:ISSN
652:ISSN
622:2021
591:2021
578:ISBN
524:ISBN
216:Plon
61:Died
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764:doi
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