Mohamed Harbi (born June 16, 1933) is an Algerian historian who was a member of the FLN during the

Algerian War of Independence 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 ...

. Mohamed Harbi was born in 1933 into a wealthy family in

El Harrouch El Harrouch is a town and Communes of Algeria, commune in Skikda Province in north-eastern Algeria. It is located on the main N3 road south of Skikda and north of Constantine, Algeria, Constantine. Demographics The town of El Harrouch had a popu ...

, Algeria. At the age of 15, he joined the MTLD (ex.PPA). According to his later memoirs, Harbi lived underground in France and gathered support for the Algerian independence. 1954-1962 he was in a prominent position in the FLN. After the Algerian War of Independence, he became an advisor to new president,

Ahmed Ben Bella Ahmed Ben Bella ( ar, أحمد بن بلّة '; 25 December 1916 – 11 April 2012) was an Algerian politician, soldier and socialist revolutionary who served as the head of government of Algeria from 27 September 1962 to 15 September 1963 an ...

and later a member of his cabinet. Harbi's Marxism was fiercely opposed by many veterans of the war, as well as by the army. According to his memoirs, Harbi tried to resist the increasingly authoritarian approach of the new government and urged Ben Bella to arm the people to avert a

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...

. He believed, like many Marxists in his generation, that popular militias were needed to revolutionize society as well as resist the impending coup. However, his own insistence on Marxist dogma helped fuel popular as well as political opposition toward him, which culminated in the very coup he had feared. In June 1965

Houari Boumedienne Houari is a given name and surname. It may refer to: Persons Given name *Houari Boumédiène, also transcribed Boumediene, Boumedienne etc. (1932–1978), served as Chairman of the Revolutionary Council of Algeria from 19 June 1965 until 12 Decembe ...

seized power and arrested Ben Bella. Two months later Harbi was also imprisoned. For the next six years he was transferred between prisons until he was placed in

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

in 1971. In 1973 he escaped to

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

with a false Turkish passport and from there moved to Paris. In France, Harbi began to teach political science in the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. During his house arrest, Harbi had begun to write the history of the independence movement and in 1975 published a book ''The history of FLN''. His inside view of the movement was not the one FLN cherished and he began to receive death threats from three sides; Algerian secret police, Algerian Islamic militants and French ultra nationalists. Currently Harbi lives in Paris, retired from the university. The first part of his memoirs was published in 2003.

External links

copy of a ''New York Times'' article "An Arab Gadly With a Memorable Bite"
1933 births Living people Algerian historians Historians of Africa Members of the National Liberation Front (Algeria) People from Skikda Province Academic staff of the University of Paris 21st-century Algerian people {{Algeria-writer-stub