# Layla Chaouni

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**Layla Chaouni**, also known as **Layla Chaouni Benabdallah,** (Arabic: ليلى الشاوني, born 1953 in [Fes](/source/Fes), [Morocco](/source/Morocco)) is a Moroccan publisher and activist for [Human](/source/Human_rights) and [Women's Rights](/source/Women's_Rights). She is best known as director of her publishing company *[Éditions Le Fennec](/source/%C3%89ditions_Le_Fennec)*, having published more than 500 titles both in [French](/source/French_language) and [Arabic](/source/Arabic).

## Life and career

Born in 1953, she studied law and first worked for a journal of law, economics and politics at the [Mohamed V University](/source/Mohammed_V_University)'s law faculty in Rabat.[1] In 1974, during the reign of King [Hassan II](/source/Hassan_II_of_Morocco) of Morocco, she and her husband Mustapha Slimani were arrested and she spent ten days in the torture center of [Derb Moulay Cherif](/source/Derb_Moulay_Cherif) in [Casablanca](/source/Casablanca). Her husband was only released five years later.[2] In 1987, she created her publishing company *Éditions Le Fennec* and became a leading figure in publishing in Morocco. She was the first editor to publish accounts of the [Years of Lead](/source/Years_of_Lead_(Morocco)), such as Abdelkader Chaoui's *Dalil al Onfouan* in 1989, or *Une femme nommée Rachid* by [Fatna El Bouih](/source/Fatna_El_Bouih) in 2000.[3]

In 2004, Chaouni's publishing company launched a collection of paperbacks (*Collection Fennec-Poche*), sold at newsstands for the low price of 10 or 20 [dirhams](/source/Dirhams). In cooperation with Moroccan feminist writer [Fatima Mernissi](/source/Fatima_Mernissi), whose book *Sexe, Idéologie, Islam* she published in 1985, Chaouni also organized writing workshops.[2] In 1989, she became a member of the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights.[3][4][5]

## See also

- [Moroccan literature of the 20th century](/source/Moroccan_literature#20th_century)
- [List of Moroccan writers](/source/List_of_Moroccan_writers)
- [Abdelkader Retnani](/source/Abdelkader_Retnani)
- [Nadia Essalmi](/source/Nadia_Essalmi)

## References

1. ["Layla Chaouni : les éditions Le Fennec, le projet d’une vie"](https://telquel.ma/2022/07/15/layla-chaouni-les-editions-le-fennec-le-projet-dune-vie_1776098?fbrefresh=1) (in French). *Telquel.ma*. Retrieved 2024-03-06.

1. ["100 FEMMES | Layla CHAOUNI BENABDALLAH"](https://www.100femmes.ma/en/femme/layla.chaouni.benabdallah). *www.100femmes.ma*. Retrieved 2024-03-05.

1. Slimani, Leïla (2009-10-19). ["Les 50 personnalités qui font le Maroc - Culture: Layla Chaouni, 56 ans, fondatrice des Éditions Le Fennec"](http://www.jeuneafrique.com/Article/ARTJAJA2546p048-049.xml4/) (in French). *[Jeune Afrique](/source/Jeune_Afrique)*. Retrieved 2024-03-05.

1. Florence Noiville (2017). ["Salon Livre Paris : frénésie dans les lettres marocaines"](https://www.lemonde.fr/livres/article/2017/03/23/salon-livre-paris-frenesie-dans-les-lettres-marocaines_5099431_3260.html#Y4u5D3gsM9iVy2KQ.99) (in French). *[Le Monde](/source/Le_Monde)*

1. Dominique Lagarde & Abdelhadi Gadi (2006). ["La vie. Layla Chaouni, la passion des livres"](https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/monde/afrique/la-vie-culturelle_481818.html) (in French). *[L'Express](/source/L'Express)*

## Further reading

- Dobie, Madeleine. ["Francophone studies and the linguistic diversity of the Maghreb." *Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East* 23, no. 1 (2003): 32-40.](https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/4/article/191261/summary)
- MacDonald, Megan. ["Publish or Paris: Reflections on the Politics of Transnational Literary Culture between Morocco and France." *Francosphères* 2, no. 1 (2013): 1-13.](https://www.academia.edu/download/31623008/Francos2_1_2MacDonald.pdf)

## External links

- [Editions Le Fennec webpage](https://lefennec.com/la-maison-dedition/) (in French)

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