Ali Akbar, a 72-year-old newspaper vendor from Rawalpindi, has been awarded the "Légion d’Honneur", France’s highest civilian award. The award was presented to him by President Emmanuel Macron during a ceremony at the Élysée Palace. Akbar, who holds a French residence permit, hopes this recognition will support his long-delayed application for French citizenship.

 

For over fifty years, Akbar has been a familiar presence in the St.-Germain-des-Prés district of Paris. Recognised not only for selling newspapers but also for his signature cry of “Ça y est!”, his voice has echoed through cobbled streets as he made his daily rounds across cafés and boutiques.

 

 

Born in 1953 into a low-income household in Pakistan, Akbar left school at the age of 12 and took on a series of jobs before deciding to pursue a better future abroad.

 

 

In 1973, he arrived in Paris after a long journey that took him through Kabul, Tehran, and Athens.

 

 

He initially worked in restaurants and lived in difficult, often unstable conditions.

 

 

In 1974, he switched to selling newspapers on the street after observing an Argentine student doing the same. He began with satirical magazines such as "Charlie Hebdo" and "Hara-Kiri", and later moved to major French dailies like "Le Monde" and "Les Echos". The work provided modest earnings but gave him a sense of independence and connection to the city.

 

 

Akbar is known for using humour to engage passersby, sometimes inventing headlines to catch attention. Over the years, his clientele has included artists, psychotherapists, and fashion designers. He is a regular face at cafés like Flore, Lipp, and Fleurus, where he has built close relationships with customers and staff.

 

 

His daily path, which runs from noon to midnight, provides him with a modest living. On average, he earns about $70 each day. Despite being older now, he continues to work without a pension and seldom takes time off.

 

 

His motivation, he says, was shaped by his childhood in Rawalpindi, where he once lived in a cramped room with four siblings and relied on leftovers for food. His goal was always to provide his mother with a better life, which he eventually achieved by buying her a home with a garden.