Hassiba Ben Bouali ( ar, حسيبة بن بوعلي) (18 January 1938 – 9 October 1957) was a leader and fighter in the

Algerian independence 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 ...

(1954–62).

Biography

Hassiba Ben Bouali was born in El-Asnam (Today, Chlef), Algeria, into an aristocratic family. Her parents moved to

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 ...

in 1947, where she studied at the Lycée Delacroix (high-school). She joined the

Scout Movement Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

, and her travels made her aware of the conditions of the Algerian people under the colonial government. This motivated her to join the ''Union générale des étudiants musulmans algériens'' (General Union of Algerian Muslim Students) in 1954, at the age of 16. She participated in the nationalist struggle until her death. In the 1957 Battle of Algiers, she and three companions including Ali Ammar (aka ''Ali La Pointe'') were killed when French forces bombed their hideout in the

Casbah A kasbah (, also ; ar, قَـصَـبَـة, qaṣaba, lit=fortress, , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territo ...

. Benbouali was depicted in the movie ''

The Battle of Algiers ar, Maʿrakat al-Jazāʾir , director = Gillo Pontecorvo , producer = Antonio MusuSaadi Yacef , writer = Franco Solinas , story = Franco SolinasGillo Pontecorvo , starring = Jean MartinSaadi Yacef Brahim Ha ...

'' by Italian director

Gillo Pontecorvo Gilberto Pontecorvo (; 19 November 1919 – 12 October 2006) was an Italian filmmaker associated with the political cinema movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for directing the landmark war docudrama ''The Battle of Algiers'' (1966 ...

. One of the largest avenues in Algiers and the University of

Chlef Chlef ( ar, الشلف, Berber: Clef) is the capital of Chlef Province, Algeria. Located in the north of Algeria, west of the capital, Algiers, it was founded in 1843, as Orléansville, on the ruins of Roman ''Castellum Tingitanum''. In 1962, i ...

were named after her.

References

External links

Universite Hassiba Ben Bouali biography (French)
1938 births 1957 deaths People from Chlef Algerian guerrillas killed in action African women in war Deaths by explosive device Members of the National Liberation Front (Algeria) Women in warfare post-1945 {{Algeria-mil-bio-stub