The University of Algiers (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

:جامعة الجزائر – بن يوسف بن خـدة ), commonly called the Algiers 1 University, is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...

located 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 d ...

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. It is the oldest and most prestigious university in Algeria. Emerging from a series of independent institutions in the 19th century, it was organized as a university in 1909 and profoundly reorganized in 2009.

History

The historical tradition of higher education in Algeria began in 1832, with the creation of the Higher School of Letters of Algiers, as a way to guarantee the teaching of Arabic and French languages, in the context of the

French conquest of Algeria The French invasion of Algeria (; ) took place between 1830 and 1903. In 1827, an argument between Hussein Dey, the ruler of the Deylik of Algiers, and the French consul escalated into a blockade, following which the July Monarchy of France inva ...

. In 1849 the institution opened campuses 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 ...

and Constantine, and was formally integrated into the regular French education system on December 20, 1879. Subsequently, the Superor School of Medicine and Pharmacy was created in 1833 (officialized on August 4, 1857); in 1868 the School of Sciences, and; in 1879 the School of Law. All were based in the city of

.The University of Algiers: Historical Survey
Africa 2 Trust. Access-date: 12 July 2021. In 1909 all educational institutions were turned into faculties. Soon after, in the same year, the faculties were united to form the University of Algiers. The installation of the

Free French Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

government in Algiers, making it the capital in exile in 1942, is marked by the admission of a greater number of Muslim students, who in that year represent 11.4% of the total number of students. Algerian and French numbers would become equivalent only in 1961. On May 19, 1956, the General Union of Algerian Muslim Students (UGEMA) called an indefinite student strike, which halted the academic courses and examinations at the University of Algiers, rallying support from the National Liberation Front. On 7 June 1962 – just a month ahead of the Algerian independence referendum – the Organisation Armée Secrète (OAS), the movement of

colonists A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...

opposing Algerian independence, set fire to the library building, destroying 500,000 books. The destruction of these books and the library was reported in the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

as a tactic of war or

dirty war The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cívico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 a ...

, known as

scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, commun ...

. Egypt, Iraq and Jordan condemned the arson and issued repudiation notes. It showed the savagery of the anti-independence movement would extend to removing and indeed destroying culture so long as Algeria intended to create its own national culture. The 1971 higher education reform abolished the college system and grouped the different disciplines by affinities into departments and institutes. The reform decrees the progressive

Arabization Arabization or Arabisation ( ar, تعريب, ') describes both the process of growing Arab influence on non-Arab populations, causing a language shift by the latter's gradual adoption of the Arabic language and incorporation of Arab culture, aft ...

of the disciplines, starting with certain classes in the social sciences (initially, philosophy and history). On December 12, 1998, the college system was re-established. In 2009 the university is subdivided into three new institutions. The most important, the University of Algiers Benyoucef Benkhedda (or Algiers 1 University), stands as heir to the historical-academic tradition. Meanwhile, are created: *Abou El Kacem Saadallah University ( Algiers 2 University); *Brahim Soltane Chaibout University ( Algiers 3 University). In 2015, due to the state of degradation of the university's buildings, professors, students and supporters demanded that the university be classified as a national historical-architectural heritage. The Ministry of Culture responded to the claims in July 2015.

Library

The library holds 800,000 volumes.

Notable Faculty

Fernand Braudel Fernand Braudel (; 24 August 1902 – 27 November 1985) was a French historian and leader of the Annales School. His scholarship focused on three main projects: ''The Mediterranean'' (1923–49, then 1949–66), ''Civilization and Capitalism'' ...

(1902-1985) - French historian *

John Peters Humphrey John Peters Humphrey (April 30, 1905 – March 14, 1995) was a Canadian legal scholar, jurist, and human rights advocate. He is most famous as the principal author of the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Childhood, ...

(1905-1995) -

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

legal scholar *

André Chastagnol André Chastagnol (21 February 1920 – 2 September 1996) was a French historian, specializing in Latin epigraphy and literature. After teaching at the Universities of Algiers, Rennes and Paris-X, he finished his career as a professor at the ...

(1920-1996) - French historian * Assia Djebar (1936-2015) - novelist, translator, film maker * Ahmed Zaoui -

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ma ...

scholar, obtained refugee status in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

in 2014

Notable alumni

Arts and Science

* Jean Baptiste Paulin Trolard (1842-1910) - physician; the "vein of Trolard" (the superior anastomotic vein) was named after him *

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

(1913–1960) - writer and the awardee of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. * Paul Coste-Floret (1911-1979) law professor and politician *

Albert Memmi Albert Memmi ( ar, ألبير ممّي; 15 December 1920 – 22 May 2020) was a French-Tunisian writer and essayist of Tunisian-Jewish origins. Biography Memmi was born in Tunis, French Tunisia in December 1920, to a Tunisian Jewish Berb ...

(1920-2020) - Tunisian scholar * Suzanne Carrell (1923-2019) - educator * Gabriel Camps (1927-2002) - archaeologist and social anthropologist * Maurice Audin (1932-1957) - mathematician and political activist * Fadéla M'rabet (born 1935) - writer and feminist. * Fatima Gallaire (1944-2020) - author and playwright *

Youcef Saad Yousef Saad (born 1950) is an I.T. Distinguished Professor of Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota.

(born 1950) - mathematician. * Elias Zerhouni (born 1951) - Algerian-born American physician scientist radiologist and biomedical engineer. *

Saddek Rabah Saddek Rabah (born 1968) is an Algerian researcher, professor and author in the field of information science and communication. He has been teaching higher education since the year 2000. Biography Graduate of ISIC (Institute of Information and ...

(born 1968) - University Professor and academic researcher. * Kaouther Adimi (born 1986) - writer

Politics and Diplomacy

* Ferhat Abbas (1899-1985) - politician * Mohamed Lamine Debaghine (1917-2003) - political activist *

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(1920-1965?) - Moroccan politician;

disappeared An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organi ...

in 1965 *

Lakhdar Brahimi Lakhdar Brahimi ( Algerian pronunciation: ; ar, الأخضر الإبراهيمي; '; born 1 January 1934) is an Algerian United Nations diplomat who served as the United Nations and Arab League Special Envoy to Syria until 14 May 2014. He was M ...

(born 1934) - UN diplomat and Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs. * Hassiba Ben Bouali (1938-1957) - political activist * Ferhat Mehenni (born 1951) - political activist *

Ahmed Djoghlaf Ahmed Djoghlaf (born 25 November 1953 in Algiers), was the executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) until 2012. As Executive Secretary of the Convention, he had a key rol ...

(born 1953) - executive secretary of the

Convention on Biological Diversity The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its ...

Said Djinnit Said Djinnit ( ar, سعيد جينيت) (born June 7, 1954) is an Algerian diplomat who has been Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region in Africa since 2014. Previously he served as the Special Representat ...

(born 1954) -

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

diplomat *

Khalida Toumi Khalida Toumi ( ar, خليدة تومي) (born 13 March 1958), aka Khalida Messaoudi ( ar, خليدة مسعودي), is an Algerian politician. She was the Minister of Communication and Culture until April 2014. She is also a feminist activis ...

(born 1958) - feminist activist

References

External links

University of Algiers Website

Faculty of Islamic Sciences
{{Authority control 1909 establishments in Algeria