Thami al-Glaoui

Studies the never-ending story of Thami al-Glaoui (1879–1956), and its implications for Moroccan history and historical theory

• Presents a historical biography of one of the most famous characters of the Moroccan French Protectorate and the Independence period
• Scrutinises key texts about al-Glaoui published in Morocco, France and Great Britain between 1932 and 2020
• Presents the historical-literary plot of a person, a region and a period
• Addresses the global collapse of imperial world orders in the 20th century, and the manifold meanings of this collapse
• Offers new perspectives on the processes shaping colonial and post-colonial narratives, imagery, styles and politics in the 20th and 21st centuries, particularly in Morocco and France

Orit Ouaknine-Yekutieli examines al-Glaoui’s life and deeds, and the multiple ways in which his story has been told. She investigates his biography as a creation continuing beyond the demise of its protagonist, asserting a conflation of history, story and storytelling. The book also reconfigures the story of major events and processes in modern Moroccan history and historiography.

Thami al-Glaoui, leader of the Amazigh Glaoua tribe and Pasha of Marrakesh throughout Morocco’s colonial era (1912–56), was the third most powerful person in Morocco, after the Sultan and the French Resident-General, by the 1930s. In 1953, he was a key supporter of the deportation of Sultan Mohamed V by the French. After recanting three years later, he was pardoned by the returning Sultan, but died shortly afterwards. In the four decades that followed, al-Glaoui became a synonym in Morocco for betrayal and corruption. In the 21st century, however, the ways in which he is told became more complex, and his reputation has been somewhat revised.