Ahmed Zabana ( ar, أحمد زبانة; real name: Ahmed Zahana, born 1926, died June 19, 1956) was an Algerian militant who participated in the outbreak of the

Algerian War The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

. He was executed by

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

on June 19, 1956, in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

Early life

Zabana was born in 1926 in Saint-Lucien (now Zahana). The youngest of nine children, he was a member of the

Algerian Muslim Scouts Algerian Muslim Scouts ( ar, الكشافة الاسلامية الجزائرية) is the national Scouting association in Algeria. SMA has 24,750 members as of 2011. History Scouting in Algeria began formatively around 1911, but Scouting w ...

, which inspired nationalist feeling in him. He joined the

Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties The Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties (MTLD), name proposed by Maiza, was created October 1946 to replace the outlawed Parti du Peuple Algerien (PPA). Messali Hadj remained as its president. The MTLD was created on the same platform ...

in 1950. He later became a member of the military wing of a pro-independence secret society, and participated in a mail operation in

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

in 1950. He was later arrested and spent three years in prison and an additional three years in exile.

Role in the preparation of the revolution

After the dissolution of the Revolutionary Committee of Unity and Action on 5 July 1954, Zabana was commissioned by Larbi Ben M'hidi to prepare for the revolution by obtaining weapons and personnel. Zabana's tasks were to structure revolutionary forces and train them, and also to visit strategic locations to choose places that could be made centers of revolution. Zabana succeeded in forming revolutionary cadres in

Zahana Zahana is a town and commune in Mascara Province, Algeria. According to the 1998 census it has a population of 18,839. Notable people * Ahmed Zabana Ahmed Zabana ( ar, أحمد زبانة; real name: Ahmed Zahana, born 1926, died June 19, 1956 ...

Aïn Témouchent Aïn Témouchent ( ar, عين تموشنت) is a city in north western Algeria, it is the capital of Aïn Témouchent Province. Ain Temouchent is located 72 km south-west of Oran, a city with which it is closely associated, and 63 km w ...

, Hammam Bou Hadjar,

Hassi El Ghella Hassi El Ghella is a municipality in northwestern Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinate ...

, and Chaabet El Ham. he then ordered the men of the cadres to gather subscriptions for buying weapons and ammunition. With Abdulmalek Ramadan, Zabana supervised the military training of the cadres. At a meeting on October 30, 1954, chaired by Ben M'hidi, the organizers of the revolution determined that it would begin with a series of attacks on the night of November 1. The following day, October 31st, Zabana met with his units and assigned specific targets as well as a rendezvous point on Jabal al-Qada.

Role in the revolution

On November 1, 1954, Zabana led a successful operation in Lamarda. After carrying out the offensive operations against the agreed French objectives, Zabana met with the leaders and members of the operational teams to assess them and plan what should be done in the coming stages. Zabana was captured in the Battle of Gar Bouklida on November 11, 1954, in which he was wounded. He was taken to a hospital and then to prison.

Execution

On April 21, 1955, Zabana was brought to the military court in Oran and sentenced to death. On May 3, 1955, he was transferred to the

Serkadji Prison Serkadji Prison, formerly Barberousse Prison, is a high-security prison in Algiers, Algeria; in 1995, about two-thirds of the 1,500 prisoners detained are (or were) accused or convicted of terrorism. History The Barberousse Prison was constructe ...

. He was executed on 19 June 1956.

Legacy

The

Ahmed Zabana National Museum The Ahmed Zabana National Museum ( ar, المتحف الوطني أحمد زبانة, ''El-mathaf El-ouatani Ahmed Zabana'') is a museum located in Oran, Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , m ...

and

Ahmed Zabana Stadium Ahmed Zabana Stadium ( ar, ملعب أحمد زبانة) is a multi-purpose stadium in Oran, Algeria. It is currently used mostly for football matches. It is the home ground of MC Oran. The stadium holds 40,000.Saïd Ould-Khelifa launched a biographical film ''

Zabana! ''Zabana!'' ( ar, زبانة) is a 2012 Algerian drama film directed by Saïd Ould Khelifa. The film was selected as the Algerian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist. C ...

'' with the lead role of Zabana played by

Imad Benchenni Imad (also transliterated as Emad, Imed and Aimad ar, عماد) is an Arabic masculine given name and surname and means "support" or "pillar". Given name * Imād ad-Dīn Muhammad bin Qasim, Umayyad Caliphate general * Imad Abbas, Palestinian ...

References

External links

Commemoration of Ahmed Zabana (55 years ago) - ''algerie-plus.com''
1926 births 1956 deaths Algerian torture victims Members of the National Liberation Front (Algeria) People executed by France by decapitation People executed by guillotine People of the Algerian War People from Mascara Province Executed Algerian people People executed by the French Fourth Republic {{Algeria-bio-stub