Sail Mohamed Ameriane ben Amerzaine (October 14, 1894 – April 1953) was an Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

n and French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 anarchist who fought in the Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

. The French writer Jacques Prévert

Jacques Prévert

Jacques Prévert was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain very popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. Some of the movies he wrote are extremely well regarded, with Les Enfants du Paradis considered one of the greatest films of all time.-Life and...

 dedicated a poem to him.

Born in Kabylie

Kabylie

Kabylie or Kabylia , is a region in the north of Algeria.It is part of the Tell Atlas and is located at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Kabylia covers several provinces of Algeria: the whole of Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia , most of Bouira and parts of the wilayas of Bordj Bou Arreridj, Jijel,...

, French Algeria

French Algeria

French Algeria lasted from 1830 to 1962, under a variety of governmental systems. From 1848 until independence, the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria was administered as an integral part of France, much like Corsica and Réunion are to this day. The vast arid interior of Algeria, like the rest...

, Sail Mohamed served in the French Colonial Forces

French Colonial Forces

The French Colonial Forces , commonly called La Coloniale, was a general designation for the military forces that garrisoned in the French colonial empire from the late 17th century until 1960. They were recruited from mainland France or from the French settler and indigenous populations of the...

.
He was arrested for insubordination and desertion during the First World War. He then moved to France, where he was an activist in the Union Anarchiste (UA) and the Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaire

Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaire

The Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaire was a trade union federation in France founded in 1926 by Pierre Besnard with the help of the Spanish CNT...

 (CGT-SR) and was founder (in 1923) with his friend Sliman Kiouane of the Committee for the Defence of Indigenous Algerians, one of the first national liberation movements in French North Africa

French colonial empires

The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...

He was a passionate anti-Stalinist

Anti-Stalinist left

The anti-Stalinist left is an element of left-wing politics that is critical of Joseph Stalin's policies and the political system that developed in the Soviet Union under his rule...

, rejecting support from the Red Aid

International Red Aid

International Red Aid was an international social service organization established by the Communist International...

, a front organisation of the French Communist Party

French Communist Party

The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...

, when he was prosecuted by the French authorities for an anti-militarist article.

In 1936, he served in the Sébastien Faure Century

Sébastien Faure Century

The Sébastien Faure Century was the French/Italian contingent of the Durruti Column during the Spanish Civil War, named for the anarchist of the same name. It formed the First Century of the International Group, and consisted of about fifty members from France, Italy, and other countries...

, the French-speaking section of the Durruti Column

Durruti Column

The Durruti Column was the largest anarchist column formed during the Spanish Civil War . During the first months of the war it has come to be the most recognized and popular military organisations fighting at the republican side...

, an anarchist

Anarchism in Spain

Anarchism has historically gained more support and influence in Spain than anywhere else, especially before Francisco Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939....

 anti-Francoist militia in Spain. In October 1936, he becomes the general delegate for foreign groups, replacing Bethomieu who died in Perdiguera

Perdiguera

Perdiguera is a municipality located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2009 census , the municipality has a population of 662 inhabitants.The Sierra de Alcubierre rises east of the town....

. He was wounded in November and got back to France in December, after sending many letters describing the anarchist movement in Spain. As soon as he got better, he took part in the conferences organised by the Union Anarchiste on the realisation of the Spanish revolution.

External links

• Biography at libcom.org
• Audiofile (in German language)