1923 - 1957
Algerian revolutionary leader.
Muhammad Larbi Ben M'hidi was born to a farming family in Ain M'Lila near Constantine. A follower of Messali al-Hadj, he joined the Parti du Peuple Algérien (PPA; Algerian People's Party) and the paramilitary Organisation Spéciale (OS; Special Organization), which was affiliated with the Mouvement pour le Triomphe des Libertés Démocratiques (MTLD; Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties). Like other members of the younger elite, Ben M'hidi grew impatient with the venerable nationalist Messali and collaborated in the founding in 1954 of the Comité Révolutionnaire d'Unité et d'Action (CRUA; Revolutionary Committee for Unity and Action) and subsequently the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN; National Liberation Front). He is regarded as one of the nine historic chiefs (chefs historiques) of the Algerian revolution against French colonialism.
During the Algerian war of independence (1954 - 1962), Ben M'hidi initially commanded Wilaya I (the military district in the Oran region) and played an important role at the FLN's Soummam conference in August 1956. Ben M'hidi believed that the revolution should be directed by "internal" rather than "external" revolutionaries. During the Battle of Algiers (1956 - 1957), he headed FLN operations until his capture in February 1957. The French announced in March that Ben M'hidi had committed suicide in his cell. This account was disputed by others, who have contended that he was in fact tortured and murdered.
Bibliography
Naylor, Phillip C., and Heggoy, Alf A. The Historical Dictionary of Algeria, 2d edition. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1994.
— PHILLIP C. NAYLOR
