Ali Akbar, believed to be the last newspaper hawker in France—and perhaps in all of Europe—has spent over half a century walking the streets of Paris’s Left Bank, distributing papers and announcing the day’s headlines aloud.
His dedication to this fading trade is now being officially acknowledged.
President Emmanuel Macron, who once purchased newspapers from Akbar during his student years, will award him the Order of Merit next month—one of France’s most prestigious decorations.
“When I began here in 1973 there were 35 or 40 of us hawkers in Paris,” he says. “Now I am alone.
It became too discouraging. Everything is digital now. People just want to consult their telephones.”
Today, Akbar moves through the cafés of Saint-Germain, managing to sell around 30 copies of Le Monde each day. He keeps half of the cover price but receives no compensation for unsold papers. Decades ago, before the rise of the internet, he could move 80 copies in just an hour after the paper hit the stands.
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“In the old days people would crowd around me looking for the paper. Now I have to chase down clients to try to sell one,” he says.
Despite the decline in business, Akbar remains enthusiastic about his work.
“I am a joyous person. And I am free. With this job, I am completely independent. There is no-one giving me orders. That's why I do it.”
Now 72, Akbar is a beloved figure in the area. “I first came here in the 1960s and I've grown up with Ali. He is like a brother,” says one local. “He knows everyone. And he is such fun,” adds another.
Originally from Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Akbar traveled to Europe in the late 1960s, initially working on a cruise ship out of Amsterdam. In 1972, the ship docked in Rouen, and by the following year, he had settled in Paris. He received French residency in the 1980s.
“Me, I wasn't a hippy back then, but I knew a lot of hippies,” he says with his signature laugh. “When I was in Afghanistan on my way to Europe I landed up with a group who tried to make me smoke hashish.
I told them sorry, but I had a mission in life, and it wasn't to spend the next month sleeping in Kabul!”
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Working in Saint-Germain—a former hotspot for intellectuals and artists—Akbar encountered many prominent figures. Elton John once treated him to a milky tea at Brasserie Lipp, and outside the Sciences Po university, he crossed paths with generations of students, including a young Emmanuel Macron.
Reflecting on how the neighbourhood has changed since he began calling out Le Monde headlines:
“The atmosphere isn't the same,” he laments. “Back then there were publishers and writers everywhere – and actors and musicians. The place had soul. But now it is just tourist-town. The soul has gone,” he says – but he laughs as he does.
Source: BBC