The University of Algiers 1 (), commonly called Benyoucef Benkhedda, 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 key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

based in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. Founded in 1909 from the amalgamation of different French colonial educational institutions, it has become the oldest and most prestigious university in the country.

History

The University under French Colonialism, 1830-1962

The historical tradition of higher education in Algeria began in 1832, with the creation of the Higher School of Letters of Algiers (''École supérieure des lettres d'Alger''), as a way to guarantee the teaching of Arabic and French languages, in the context of the

French conquest of Algeria The French conquest of Algeria (; ) took place between 1830 and 1903. In 1827, an argument between Hussein Dey, the ruler of the Regency of Algiers, and the French consul (representative), consul escalated into a blockade, following which the Jul ...

. In 1849 the institution opened campuses in

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

and Constantine, and was formally integrated into the regular French education system on 20 December 1879. Subsequently, the Superior School of Medicine and Pharmacy (''École supérieure de médecine et de pharmacie'') was created in 1833 (officialized on 4 August 1857); in 1868 the School of Sciences (''École supérieure des sciences''), and; in 1879 the School of Law (''École supérieure de droit''). All were based in the city of

. In 1909, these Superior Schools were turned into the Faculties of Letters, Law, Medicine and Pharmacy, and Sciences. Soon after, in the same year, the faculties were united to form the University of Algiers. With this change, the University of Algiers became the only colonial French higher education institution on par with a metropolitan universities. Throughout the French colonial period, the majority of student were European. Arab and Berber Algerians only made up a small minority, ranging from 1.2% to 18.1% of the total student body. On 19 May 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 The ''Organisation armée secrète'' (OAS, "Secret Army Organisation") was a far-right dissident French paramilitary and terrorist organisation during the Algerian War, founded in 1961 by Raoul Salan, Pierre Lagaillarde and Jean-Jacques S ...

(OAS), the movement of

colonists A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among the first settli ...

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 ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

as a tactic of war or

dirty war The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...

, known as

scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy of destroying everything that allows an enemy military force to be able to fight a war, including the deprivation and destruction of water, food, humans, animals, plants and any kind of tools and i ...

. 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 University of Algiers since Algerian Independence, 1962-Present

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 Arabicization () is a sociology, sociological process of cultural change in which a non-Arab society becomes Arabs, Arab, meaning it either directly adopts or becomes strongly influenced by the Arabic, Arabic language, Arab cultu ...

of the disciplines, starting with certain classes in the social sciences (initially, philosophy and history). On 12 December 1998, the college system was re-established. In 2009 the university was subdivided into three new institutions. The most important, the University of Algiers Benyoucef Benkhedda (or University of Algiers 1), stands as heir to the historical-academic tradition. The other two institutions created were: *Abou El Kacem Saadallah University ( University of Algiers 2); *Brahim Soltane Chaibout University ( University of Algiers 3). 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 Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

responded to the claims in July 2015.

Library

The library holds 800,000 volumes.

Notable faculty

Fernand Braudel Fernand Paul Achille Braudel (; 24 August 1902 – 27 November 1985) was a French historian. His scholarship focused on three main projects: ''The Mediterranean'' (1923–49, then 1949–66), ''Civilization and Capitalism'' (1955–79), and the un ...

(1902–1985) – French historian * John Peters Humphrey (1905–1995) –

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

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 Pa ...

(1920–1996) – French historian *

Assia Djebar Fatima-Zohra Imalayen (; 30 June 1936 – 6 February 2015), known by her pen name Assia Djebar (), was an Algerian novelist, translator and filmmaker. Most of her works deal with obstacles faced by women, and she is noted for her feminist stance ...

(1936–2015) – novelist, translator, film maker * Ahmed Zaoui –

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

scholar, obtained refugee status in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

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, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...

(1913–1960) – writer and the awardee of the

Nobel Prize for Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in t ...

in 1957. * Paul Coste-Floret (1911–1979) law professor and politician *

Albert Memmi Albert Memmi (; 15 December 1920 – 22 May 2020) was a French-Tunisian writer and essayist of Tunisian Jewish origins. A prominent intellectual, his nonfiction books and novels explored his complex identity as an anti-imperialist, deeply re ...

(1920–2020) – Tunisian scholar * Suzanne Carrell (1923–2019) – educator *

Gabriel Camps Gabriel Camps (May 20, 1927 – September 6, 2002) was a French archaeologist and social anthropologist, the founder of the '' Encyclopédie berbère'' and is considered a prestigious scholar on the history of the Berber people. Biography G ...

(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 (born 1950) – mathematician * Bernard Picinbono (born 1933) – applied statistician * Elias Zerhouni (born 1951) – Algerian-born American physician scientist radiologist and biomedical engineer. * Saddek Rabah (born 1968) – University Professor and academic researcher. *

Kaouther Adimi Kaouther Adimi (born 1986) is a writer, graduate in modern literature and human resources management. She works today in Paris, where she has lived since 2009. Life Kaouther Adimi was born in Algiers, Algeria, in 1986. From the age of four to ...

(born 1986) – writer * Abdelkader Rezig Elmokhadimi (1950–2022) – author and journalist.

Politics and Diplomacy

Ferhat Abbas Ferhat Abbas (; ALA-LC: ; 24 August 1899 – 24 December 1985) was an Algerian politician who acted in a provisional capacity as the then yet-to-become independent country's Prime Minister from 1958 to 1961, as well as the first President of the ...

(1899–1985) – politician * Mohamed Lamine Debaghine (1917–2003) – political activist *

Mehdi Ben Barka Mehdi Ben Barka (; 1920 – disappeared 29 October 1965) was a Moroccan nationalist, Arab socialist, politician, revolutionary, anti-imperialist, head of the left-wing National Union of Popular Forces (UNFP) and secretary of the Tricontinenta ...

(1920–1965?) – Moroccan politician; disappeared in 1965 *

Lakhdar Brahimi Lakhdar Brahimi (Algerian Arabic, Algerian pronunciation: ; ; '; 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 Ministry of Foreign Aff ...

(born 1934) – UN diplomat and Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs. *

Hassiba Ben Bouali Hassiba Ben Bouali () (18 January 1938 – 9 October 1957) was an Algerian militant and revolutionary figure of the Algerian War. Biography Hassiba Ben Bouali was born in El-Asnam (Today, Chlef), Algeria, into an aristocratic family. Her par ...

(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 (born 1954) –

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

diplomat * Brahim Djamel Kassali (born 1954) –

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

* Khalida Toumi (born 1958) – feminist activist

References

External links

University of Algiers
– official website (archived)
Faculty of Islamic Sciences
(archived) {{Authority control 1909 establishments in Algeria

Education in Algiers Universities and colleges in Algeria