Abane Ramdane (June 10, 1920 – December 26, 1957) was an Algerian political activist and revolutionary. He played a key role in the organization of the independence struggle during 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 ...

. His influence was so great that he was known as "the architect of the revolution". He was also the architect of the

Soummam conference The Congress of Soummam was the founding act of the modern Algerian State, and a crucial element of success of the Algerian war for independence. It took place on 20 August 1956 when the FLN's leadership within Algeria met secretly in the ''Sou ...

Bejaia in 1956 and was very close to Frantz Fanon. In the spring of 1957, rifts developed between Ramdane and other major figureheads in the National Liberation Front (FLN). At the time, there was an internal struggle between the military and civil factions in the FLN, and Ramdane was accused of creating a "cult of personality". On December 24, 1957, Ramdane was instructed to travel to Tétouan,

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

with

Krim Belkacem Krim Belkacem ( ar, عبد الكريم بلقاسم or ) (September 14, 1922, Aït Yahia Moussa, Tizi Ouzou Province – October 18, 1970) was the historic leader of the National Liberation Front during the Algerian War. As vice-president of t ...

and

Mahmoud Chérif Mahmud is a Romanization of Arabic, transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with ''Muhammad (name), Muhammad''. ...

to meet with King Mohammed V. They arrived on December 26. Once in the country, Abdelhafid Boussouf picked them up in a car. While the exact nature of Ramadane's death is unknown, with contesting stories told by those involved, Ramadane was killed. He was "super-political" and his murder was disturbing to many FLN members including President Boumédiène who, according to the 1977 book by

Alistair Horne Sir Alistair Allan Horne (9 November 1925 – 25 May 2017) was a British journalist, biographer and historian of Europe, especially of 19th- and 20th-century France. He wrote more than 20 books on travel, history, and biography. Early life, ...

, ''A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962'', kept the assassins out of his future Algerian government. A few years after independence, he was reburied in his native village of Azouza in Tizi Ouzou Province.

References

1920 births 1957 deaths Algerian Berber politicians Assassinated Algerian people Kabyle people Members of the National Liberation Front (Algeria) Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties politicians People from Larbaâ Nath Irathen {{Algeria-politician-stub