L’Expression: Culture – L’Apprenti, this passionate activist

The one who is still nicknamed the “Apprentice” today, because of his comic character, alongside Hadj Abderrhamane who is leading the investigation into Inspector Tahar, died on October 9, 2004, at the 76 years old. For many Algerians, it is this eternal image that we keep of him, his lively and jovial temperament, small in stature, but great in talent, verve, flanked by a mischievous look. 18 years ago, Yahia Benmabrouk, this lively actor, with a rich career both in theater and in cinema, disappeared. He was born on March 30, 1928 in Algiers. It is almost a coincidence of fate that will push him to the trestles.
In 1940, called to the rescue, replacing a young actor by Mustapha Kateb, trainer and head of the Algerian theater troupe, was the great encounter of his life. Victim of an attack perpetrated in 1956 by French extremists, Yahia Benmabrouk was forced to stop his artistic activities, to return two years later, in 1958 and participate, as a founding member of the artistic troupe of the Front de Liberation national, headed by Mustapha Kateb. He will thus devote his talent as an artist to the service of the national cause and Algerian culture. A seasoned activist, he devoted himself to his profession with passion and resistance.
Founded in Tunisia in 1958, the FLN troupe had set itself the main mission of promoting the Algerian revolution abroad, through a committed collective of artists, creators and intellectuals in various fields of the performing arts. , who presented several of his performances in several capitals of the world.
After independence, Yahia Benmabrouk did not stop activating within the Algerian National Theater, chaining roles in different plays, like the very first, Hassan Terro (1963), then, Actor in spite of him, A red rose for me, El Ghoula, Ma yenfaâ ghir essah or Es’Soltane el hayer.
The late also played in Les concierges (1970), alongside a large number of Algerian theater figures, like the late Sid Ali Kouiret, Fatiha Berbère and Ammar Marouf, only to be cast two years later. , in The Man with Rubber Sandals by Kateb Yacine, thus becoming an essential actor with a unique career that he continued to lead until 1983, when he appeared in Juha baâ h’marou. A great figure in post-independence theater with, among others, Rouiched, Allel El Mouhib, Keltoum, Sid Ali Kouiret, Mustapha Kateb and Farida Saboundji, Yahia Ben Mabrouk had participated in almost all national theatrical events and took part in a number of festivals in Tunisia. In cinema and television, he made his debut in 1967 alongside the late Hadj Abderrahmane, with whom he had formed the anthological duo, L’Inspecteur Tahar et l’Apprenti, gratifying film-lovers and viewers alike for several years. series of comedy films which will be a great success.
Among the most famous films made by this duo, where Yahia Benmabrouk embodies the role of “The Apprentice” (the assistant inspector), we note Inspector Tahar (1967) and The vacation of Inspector Tahar, by Moussa Haddad (1972), which will be a great success, but also Inspector Tahar scores the goal (1975) or Le chat (1978). Yahia Benmabrouk will also take part in the historic film that has become cult, namely Chronicles of the Burning Years (1975), by Mohamed Lakhdar Hamina, Palme d’Or in 1975 at the Cannes Film Festival. After the death of his companion Hadj Abderrahmane alias Inspector Tahar, in 1981, “the Apprentice” slipped away from the artistic scene. He will mark his return to the cinema in Le clandestin (1989) by Benamar Bakhti, which was a great success with the public. In the 1990s, the late also participated in a number of cinematographic and television works, including Cheb (1991), by Rachid Bouchareb, Hafila tassir (1993) and Les vacances de l’Apprenti (1999).
Yahia Benmabrouk died on October 9, 2004, at the age of 76.
His indelible image will forever remain marked in the memory of the Algerian people.