Actor, theater director and a familiar face across the Maghreb for more than six decades, he passed away on Sunday.
The curtain fell on Sunday, September 20, on one of the most recognizable presences in Algerian theater and film. Sid Ahmed Agoumi, whose real name was Ahmed Meziane, has died at 86. Reports published so far say nothing about the cause of death or the funeral arrangements.
Born in Algiers in 1940, he began in the 1960s and would not leave the stage or the film set for more than sixty years. Abroad, audiences first met him in Costa-Gavras’s « Z, » the film that brought Algeria its only Oscar. At home, he is remembered above all as Slimane, a former soldier turned outlaw in Tewfik Farès’s « Les Hors-la-loi, » a role that earned him the nickname « Django national » from novelist Yasmina Khadra. Some fifty works followed, from Mohamed Lakhdar Hamina’s « Automne, octobre à Alger » to « Gourbi Palace » and « Llob, » along with French productions such as « L’Italien » and « Beur sur la ville. »
Theater filled most of his life. He performed in « Le Cadavre encerclé, » « Hassan Terro » and « Les Enfants de la Casbah, » then took charge of several institutions: the National Algerian Theatre, the regional theaters of Annaba and Constantine, and the cultural center of Tizi Ouzou. He settled in France in the 1990s without interrupting his artistic work.
His deep voice and commanding stage presence made him popular well beyond Algeria’s borders. Tunisian viewers adopted him through series such as « Nsibti Laaziza » and « Dar El Wazir, » and younger audiences rediscovered him in « Sultan Achour 10, » where he played the minister Qandil.
Tributes have poured in. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune hailed « a friend of great stature. » The National Office of Authors’ Rights called him an eminent member and a pioneer of the country’s artistic heritage. Director Bachir Derrais, who worked with him for more than twenty-five years, remembers a generous, funny and straightforward man. In 2024, Agoumi himself credited Algerian audiences for sustaining his long career.