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) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

. His influence was so great that he was known as "the architect of the revolution". He was also the architect of the Congress of Soummam in Bejaia in 1956 and was very close to

Frantz Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961) was a French West Indian psychiatrist, political philosopher, and Marxist from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have become influential in the ...

. 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 Tétouan (, or ) is a city in northern Morocco. It lies along the Martil Valley and is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea, a few miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar, and about E.S.E. of Tangier. In the 2014 Morocc ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, with

Krim Belkacem Krim Belkacem ( or ) (September 14, 1922 – October 18, 1970) was an Algerian revolutionary and politician who was a notable figure during the Algerian War. As vice-president of the GPRA, he was the sole signatory of the Évian Accords on the ...

and Mahmoud Cherif to meet with King Mohammed V. They arrived on December 26. Once in the country, Abdelhafid Boussouf, member of Oujda Group, picked them up in a car. While the exact nature of Ramdane's death is unknown, and contesting stories were told by those involved, Ramdane was killed. Ramdane was "super-political", and his murder was disturbing to many FLN members including a member of Oujda Group,

Houari Boumediene 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 ...

, who, according to the 1977 book by

Alistair Horne Horne became a senior member at St Antony's College, Oxford in 1970 and a fellow of the college in 1978. He was made an honorary fellow in 1988, a position he held until his death. He was knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2003 for ...

, ''A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962'', would keep the assassins out of his Algerian government when he was the Algerian president. Abane Ramdane turns his back on the "external" colonels of the Algerian revolution, including Boumediene and Boussouf, in agreement with Ben Bella they prepare a CNRA (national council of the Algerian revolution) which plans to reverse the achievements of the Soummam congress. Abane accuses them of being "palace revolutionaries" far from the field and the internal maquis and preoccupied by power. In December 1957, under the pretext of requesting his help to resolve a conflict in Morocco he is lured into a trap where he is assassinated by Boussouf and his services. A few years after independence, Ramdane 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 French Army personnel of World War II {{Algeria-politician-stub