Benyoucef Benkhedda | |
|---|---|
بن يوسف بن خدة | |
 Benkhedda in 1962 | |
| Head of theProvisional Government of the Algerian Republic | |
| In office 9 August 1961 – 27 September 1962 | |
| Vice President | Krim Belkacem Ahmed Ben Bella Mohamed Boudiaf[1] |
| Preceded by | Ferhat Abbas |
| Succeeded by | Ahmed ben Bella |
| Head of Government of Algeria | |
| In office 9 August 1961 – 27 September 1962 | |
| President | Himself Abderrahmane Farès |
| Preceded by | Ferhat Abbas |
| Succeeded by | Ahmed Ben Bella(as Prime Minister) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1920-02-23)February 23, 1920[2] |
| Died | February 4, 2003(2003-02-04) (aged 82)[2] Algiers, Algeria |
| Party | FLN |
| Alma mater | University of Algiers |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Pharmacist |
Benyoucef Benkhedda (Arabic:بن يوسف بن خدة; February 23, 1920 – February 4, 2003) was an Algerian politician. He headed the thirdGPRAexile government of theNational Liberation Front (FLN), acting as a leader during theAlgerian War (1954–62). At the end of the war, he was briefly the de jure leader of the country, however he was quickly sidelined by more conservative figures.
Benyoucef Benkhedda was born in 1920 inBerrouaghia,Médéa Province.[3] The son of aQadi,[4] he attended both the localMadrasah andFrench colonial school. He later attended the Ibn Rochdlycée atBlida where he met Algerian nationalists such asMohamed Lamine Debaghine,Saad Dahlab,Abane Ramdane,Ali Boumendjel andM'hamed Yazid. "You are the knives which we sharpen against France!" was the oft repeated cry of the college headmaster.[3]
Having received hisbaccalauréat, he entered the University of Medicine and Pharmacy ofAlgiers in 1943, and after an interruption of his studies, obtained his degree inpharmacy in 1953. In 1942 he joined theAlgerian People's Party (PPA) where he met pioneering nationalists such asMessali Hadj,Belkacem Radjef,Hocine Lahouel and many others. A year later he was arrested and detained by localSDECE agents for campaigning againstconscription ofAlgerians in the war againstGermany[2] as part of the "unsubmissives of Blida". He was released eight months later.
He was a member of the central committee of thePPA-MTLD in 1947 and served as thegeneral secretary[2] between 1951 and 1954. In November 1954 he was arrested again and released in May 1955, due to the intervention of Frenchliberals[5] (who included thePied-Noir mayor of Algiers,Jacques Chevallier), when he joined the newNational Liberation Front. He became an adviser toAbane Ramdane in Algiers. In August 1956 theCongress of Soummam appointed him a member of the Algerian National Revolutionary Council and the Committee of Action and Co-ordination of theProvisional Government of the Algerian Republic (GPRA) along with Abane, DahlabLarbi Ben M'hidi, andKrim Belkacem.[6] He, Abane and Ben M'hidi comprised the political and military triumvirate which directed the revolutionaryAutonomous Zone of Algiers had become the capital of the resistance.
He and Abane were responsible for the creation of many projects such as the newspaperEl Moudjahid, the creation of theGeneral Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA) and the writing ofKassaman, which would become the national anthem of Algeria.[3] He miraculously escaped capture by theparatroopers of GeneralJacques Massu by use of the sewer system of Algiers,[5] fleeing the city after the capture of Ben M'hidi by paratroopers under ColonelMarcel Bigeard, Ben M'hidi was later killed while imprisoned by soldiers ofPaul Aussaresses.[7]He went abroad in the name of the Liberation front and accomplished much for the organisation such as visiting the capitals of theArab states in 1957–58,London in 1959,Yugoslavia in 1961 where he attended the1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement as a delegate representing a sovereign state,[8][9]Latin America in 1960 and two visits toChina.[5] In a confidential letter toRichard Nolte, director of theInstitute of Current World Affairs, Benkhedda is described as an "important terrorist commander" and "intellectual of Marxist formation".[10]
On August 9, 1961 he was appointed the president of the provisional government[11] and completed negotiations with France, which were started byFerhat Abbas. Acease-fire was proclaimed the day before France officially recognised the national integrity of Algeria. He was welcomed as the country's leader by a jubilant Algerian population on July 3, 1962, the day that independence was recognised officially by France.
A crisis emerged later that month between the provisional government andAhmed Ben Bella, supported by the 'Frontier Army' and Ben Khedda was forced to stand down to avoid a "fratricidal bloodbath". In 1976 he, with three leaders of the war of liberation (Ferhat Abbas,Hocine Lahouel,Kheir-Eddine) signed a proclamation which set about to create a constitutional national assembly, elected byuniversal suffrage to create a national charter (granted next year). The four signatories were placed under house arrest and had their property seized. He was released in 1979.[12]
He wrote probably the most authoritative and accurate book about the twentieth century genesis of the Algerian movement for independence. "Les Origines du 1er Novembre 1954", Editions Dahlab, 1989.
Under the government ofChadli Bendjedid which claimed to be amulti-party system, also in 1989 he created 'El Oumma' withAbderahmane Kiouane and other friends from the liberation war.[2] Its objective was the implementation of theDeclaration of 1 November 1954, that is: "The sovereign and democratic independent Algerian State withinIslamic principles".[3]
The aim of 'El Oumma' was to work towards a coming together of theIslamist andNationalist parties for an Islamic society. The president,Liamine Zeroual, who had succeeded Chadli promulgated a law prohibiting the use of the word "Islam" by the parties under penalty of dissolution.[13] 'El Oumma' dissolved, unsuccessful, in 1997.[2] At the same time he founded the 'Tadhamoune' withSheikhAhmed Sahnoune with the aim of denouncing the state because of serioushuman rights violations after the militarycoup of January 1992.
He lived a quiet life for the rest of his days, running a pharmacy in Hydra, Algiers.[2] After a long illness, Benyoucef Benkhedda died in his home in Algiers on February 4, 2003. A large crowd turned out for his funeral and he was buried at Sidi Yahia cemetery next to long-time companionSaad Dahlab. TheUniversity of Algiers was later named in his honour. He had three sons.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Head of the Algerian Provisional Government 1961-1962 | Succeeded byas President of the Provisional Executive Council |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
