Mustapha Benboulaïd
Encyclopedia
Biography
Benboulaïd was born in Arris, Batna ProvinceBatna Province
Batna is a wilaya of Algeria. Capital is Batna. Localities in this province include Barika, Merouana and Timgad. Belezma National Park is there.- Administrative divisions :It is made up of 22 districts and 61 municipalities.The districts are:...
in eastern Algeria. In 1939, he fulfilled mandatory military service and was mobilized to fight against the Nazis during the Second World War. During the Italian campaign in 1944, he was distinguished for his courage, which earned him the Military Medal and the Croix de guerre
Croix de guerre
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
.
Demobilized with the rank of adjutant, he returned to his home town, and joined the Algerian People's Party (PPP). He played an important role in the Special Organization (OS)
Special Organisation (Algeria)
The Special Organisation was a secret paramilitary organisation in colonial Algeria, set-up by the Algerian People's Party at the convention of the MTLD in 1947 to prepare for armed struggle against France, which ruled Algeria as a colony since 1830...
, in which he had an intense political and military involvement. He began to acquire weapons by purchasing with his own money and contributed to the accommodation of militants pursued by the French authorities. He personally supervised the distribution of arms to these militants. In 1948, he participated in the elections of the Assembly of Algeria
Algerian Assembly election, 1948
Elections for a new Assembly were held in French colonial Algeria on 4 and 11 April 1948. The new 120-seat Assembly was to be elected by two colleges, each of which would vote for 60 seats; one college represented around 1,500,000 Europeans and Algerian Jews, plus a few thousands "évolués" Muslims,...
and obtained a landslide victory
Landslide victory
In politics, a landslide victory is the victory of a candidate or political party by an overwhelming margin in an election...
. However, the results were falsified by the French authorities.
He was also one of the founders of the Revolutionary Committee of Unity and Action (CRUA)
Revolutionary Committee of Unity and Action
Revolutionary Committee for Unity and Action was a militant group in Algeria fighting French colonial rule. CRUA regrouped former elements of OS and radical from MTLD. In total the founders of CRUA consisted of 33 persons.CRUA would later evolve into the FLN.-Reference:* Tlemcani, Rachid, State...
. He presided over the historical meeting of 22–25 June 1954, which aimed to establish unity over the question of the outbreak of the armed struggle. He was responsible for Area I (Aurès), that engaged heavily armed French and paid a heavy price during the Algerian war. He was a member of the Committee of the Six "insurgent leaders".
In 1955, he traveled to Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
to acquire arms for his soldiers. He participated in both battles of Ifri el blah and Ahmar Khaddou near Batna
Batna
Batna or BATNA may refer to:*Batna City, Algeria*Batna Province, Algeria*Best alternative to a negotiated agreement...
.
In a photo taken after his arrest in Tunisia (11 February 1955) between two unwitting French soldiers, Benboulaïd managed to convey a message summoning unity with his two thumbs enjoined (See picture below.) He was sentenced to death by the court of Constantine
Constantine, Algeria
Constantine is the capital of Constantine Province in north-eastern Algeria. It was the capital of the same-named French département until 1962. Slightly inland, it is about 80 kilometres from the Mediterranean coast, on the banks of Rhumel river...
, then imprisoned at the Coudiat Aty Central Prison of Constantine. He escaped in November 1955 with other prisoners, (including Tahar Zbiri, one of the famed initiators of the failed coup attempt in 1967 against then President Houari Boumediene
Houari Boumediene
Houari Boumedienne served as Algeria's Chairman of the Revolutionary Council from 19 June 1965 until 12 December 1976, and from then on as the fourth President of Algeria to his death on 27 December 1978.- Background :Mohamed Ben Brahim Boukharouba was born near Héliopolis in the province of...
) with the complicity of a prison ward, Djaffer Chérif, from his hometown. During the escape, one of his comrades was injured, recaptured, and subsequently executed by decapitation
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
.
Benboulaïd died on 22 March 1956 with Abdelhamid Amrani — one of his close associates — in the blast following the detonation of a radio bomb
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
parachuted by the French army.
Posterity
National hero: in the Aures and the rest of Algeria, his bust adorns the main square of Batna and Arris.- An alley named after him and a high school in Batna. One of the biggest avenues of Annaba, Bertagna boulevard that connects the avenue of the Revolution (formerly Cours Bertagna) neighborhoods Saint-Cloud, Plaisance and Kouba, and beaches and Chapuis Toche, also bears his name.
- The airport of Batna bears his name.
Film
Ahmed RachediAhmed Rachedi
Ahmed Rachedi is an Algerian film director and screenwriter. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for the film Z , which he helped produce.-External links:...
produced between 2006 and 2007 a documentary film on Benboulaïd. It was made during the 2007 Algerian festival 'Algiers Capital of the Arab Culture' - "Alger, capitale de la culture arabe 2007", and was produced in collaboration with the Ministry of Veterans "Ministère des Moudjahidine", and the Ministry of Culture "le ministère de la culture et l'entreprise", "Missane Balkis films".
Books and resources
- Au forgeron de Batna, De Jean-Pierre Marin - Préface de Jean Deleplanque; apercu sur google books