The 'Arab marriage' of Ismayl Urbain (Algeria, nineteenth century)

Mulatto from Cayenne, member of the family constituted by Pere Enfantin after the death of Saint-Simon, convert to Islam during the Saint Simonians' mission to Egypt, the military interpreter Ismayi Urbain (1812-1848) began his career in Algeria in 1837. posted to the Algerian division of the War Ministry in Paris and subsequently a member of the governing Council in Algiers, he was the political advisor of the Duke of Aumale and later proposed the so-called Arab kingdom policy of Napoleon III. Through his reports, his articles in the press, two publications and a substantial correspondence, he exercised considerable intellectual and policy-making influence over the army and the press for the defence of the 'Natives' against the 'Colonists' who wanted to take their lands and to refuse them the rights of citizenship. One important aspect of his complex personality has not yet been explored: what he calls his 'Arab marriage'. This marriage, which has a significant place in his two unpublished autobiographies and in his correspondence, was seen by Urbain as a counterpoint to his political involvement in favour of the Arabs. Celebrated before the Cadi in Constantine in 1841, and not recognized under French law, this relationship was considered only a temporary commitment by the young interpreter. It might well have been a mere 'colonial love' if the personality of his young wife Djeyhmouna had not transformed it into a lasting union. The agonizing struggle between two opposing societies, the disapproving gaze of others, the long separations, and the illness and suffering that eventually ended her young life at the age of thirty-five all contributed to reinforce and strengthen their bond. This article examines the story of their relationship as it emerges from information provided by Urbain to his friends about a way of conduct that he wanted to be, and which almost was, exemplary.