NARBONI

NARBONI, family of French origin which established itself in Algeria toward the close of the 14th century. ALLAL BEN SIDUN BEN JOSHUA (15th century) was a wonder-working rabbi in Tlemcen. He composed a large number of piyyutim, some of which were included in the maḥhzor of Tlemcen. Until recently, frequent pilgrimages were made to his grave. SHALOM (d. 1691), a financier in Algiers, was appointed muqaddim of the Jews of that town and played a political role in the relations with the Christian countries. MORDECAI (d. 1794) edited the work Kol Yehudah by Judah ayash of Algiers. Accused of having blasphemed Islam, he was given the alternative of conversion or death; he was beheaded in Algiers. ELIE and GEORGES, both heroes in World War I, were respectively president of the Jewish Consistory in Constantine and an army medical officer. ANDRÉ (1912–1979), lawyer and a leader of Algerian Jewry, participated in the defense of his coreligionists, particularly during the antisemitic Vichy government. A fervent Zionist, he was one of the founders of the Algerian Zionist movement. When Algeria achieved independence (1962), he settled in Israel, where he became a member of the executive of the Jewish Agency. From 1972, he headed the department for Sephardi communities. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Cahen, Les Juifs de l'Afrique Septentrionale (1867), 100; M. Eisenbeth, Le Judaïsme Nord-Africain (1931), 273; Hirschberg, Afrikah, 2 (1965), 53, 90. (David Corcos)