In a moving ceremony at the Élysée Palace, President Emmanuel Macron bestowed one of France's highest honours upon Ali Akbar, believed to be the nation's last traditional newspaper hawker. The 73-year-old, originally from Pakistan, was made a knight of the National Order of Merit, recognising over fifty years of dedicated service that has woven him into the very fabric of Parisian life.
A Voice That Echoes Through Parisian Streets
For more than half a century, Ali Akbar has pounded the cobbled pavements of Paris, particularly in the historic Saint-Germain-des-Prés district. His booming voice, offering parodies of daily headlines and warm greetings, has become a familiar soundtrack to Sunday mornings and every other day of the week. President Macron, in his tribute, described Akbar as "the most French of the French" and "the accent of the sixth arrondissement."
"A warm voice that, every day for more than 50 years, has boomed across the terraces of Saint-Germain, making its way between restaurant tables," said the President, celebrating a man who has become an enduring symbol of a vanishing Paris.
From Rawalpindi to the Heart of Paris
Akbar's remarkable journey began in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Arriving in Paris in 1973, he faced initial visa difficulties but was determined to build a life that could support his parents and seven siblings back home. With help from an Argentinian student selling satirical magazines, he joined the ranks of Paris's newspaper sellers.
His ready smile, relentless work ethic—walking miles each day—and innate sense of humour quickly made him a success. He built a modest living, selling papers to an illustrious clientele that included former President François Mitterrand and students from Sciences Po, among them a young Emmanuel Macron and future Prime Minister Édouard Philippe.
The early years were marked by hardship. Akbar often slept rough under bridges or in squalid rooms, scrimping to send every possible franc back to Pakistan. Yet, through perseverance, he built a life in Paris, eventually marrying and raising five children, all while becoming a cherished local figure.
The Art of Connection in a Digital Age
As the newspaper industry has withered in the face of digital transformation, Akbar's trade has changed dramatically. Where he once sold 200 papers a day, he now moves about 20 copies of Le Monde in an eight-hour shift. "Everything is digital. People just don't buy newspapers," he acknowledges.
Yet, he persists, driven not by profit but by passion. "It's love," he told Reuters. "If it was for the money, I could do something else. But I have a great time with these people." His philosophy is simple: "I try to make jokes, so people laugh. I try to be positive and I create an atmosphere … I try and get into people's hearts, not their pockets."
A Tribute to a Disappearing Way of Life
The award feels like a poignant tribute to a vanishing Paris. Akbar reminisces about a time when Saint-Germain-des-Prés was a village-like community, frequented by philosophers like Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, where small shops and local markets thrived. "Everyone was local, everyone knew each other," he recalls. "Nowadays it's different. Every day there's a new face."
President Macron honoured Akbar's incredible personal journey, from childhood poverty and forced labour in Pakistan to his perilous travels through Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, and Greece as an undocumented migrant. "You dream of only one thing: leaving. Escaping poverty, getting an education. Earning enough money to buy your mother a beautiful house," Macron said, praising his perseverance through destitution and fear.
No Plans to Stop
For Akbar, the National Order of Merit is a balm for a lifetime's wounds, but it won't change his daily routine. He has no intention of retiring from the streets that have been his home for decades. "Retirement will have to wait until the cemetery," he jokes, vowing to continue zigzagging through Parisian cafés and lanes as long as he has the energy.
As Marie-Laure Carrière, a local lawyer, perfectly summarised: "Ali is an institution. If Ali didn't exist, St-Germain-des-Prés wouldn't be St-Germain-des-Prés." In honouring Ali Akbar, France celebrates not just a man, but a living piece of its cultural heritage, steadfast in the face of relentless change.
