Hélé Béji (Arabic: هالة الباجي; born 1 April 1948) is a Tunisian writer.[1]

Hélé Béji
Hélé Béji in 2017
Hélé Béji in 2017
Native name
هالة الباجي
Born (1948-04-01) 1 April 1948 (age 76)
Tunis, Tunisia
LanguageFrench
NationalityTunisian
RelativesMondher Ben Ammar (father)
Tarak Ben Ammar (brother)
Yasmine Torjeman-Besson (niece)
Sonia Ben Ammar (niece)

Biography edit

The daughter of Tunisian politician Mondher Ben Ammar [fr], she was born in Tunis, passed her Agrégation de lettres modernes and went on to teach literature at the University of Tunis. She later joined UNESCO in Paris. In 1998, she founded the Collège international de Tunis.[2] She has expressed a great admiration for the author Marcel Proust and his influence can be seen in her fiction.[1] In 1983, she received the Prix de l’Afrique méditerranéenne awarded by the Association des écrivains de langue française.[3] She has contributed to the magazines Le Débat and Esprit.[4]

She is the sister of movie producer Tarak Ben Ammar. Her niece Yasmine Torjeman-Besson married French politician Éric Besson.[4]

Selected works edit

Sources:[1][2]

  • Le Désenchantement national, essai sur la décolonisation, political essay (1982)
  • L’oeil du jour, novel (1985)
  • Itinéraire de Paris à Tunis, satire (1992)
  • L'Art contre la culture, essay (1992)
  • L’Imposture culturelle, essay (1997)
  • Islam Pride, essay (2011)[citation needed]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Mortimer, Mildred P (2001). Maghrebian Mosaic: A Literature in Transition. pp. 229–30. ISBN 0894108883.
  2. ^ a b "Hélé Béji" (in French). Radio France Internationale. 27 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Hélé Béji — internationales literaturfestival berlin".
  4. ^ a b "Mme Hélé Béji n'est pas nommée ambassadrice de Tunisie à Paris". Tunisie numerique (in French). March 25, 2011.