Saadi Yacef

Saadi Yacef (Arabic: ياسف سعدي, romanized: Yāsaf Saʿadī; 20 January 1928 – 10 September 2021) was an Algerian independence fighter, serving as a leader of the National Liberation Front during his country's war of independence. He was a Senator in Algeria's Council of the Nation until his death.

Yacef Saâdi
ياسف سعدي
Yacef at the 1966 Venice Film Festival
Born(1928-01-20)20 January 1928
Algiers, French Algeria
Died10 September 2021(2021-09-10) (aged 93)
Algiers, Algeria
NationalityAlgerian
Other namesSi Djâffer, Réda Lee
OrganizationArmée de libération nationale (ALN)
Known forBattle of Algiers
Notable workThe Battle of Algiers
MovementFront de libération nationale (FLN)
SpouseDjamila Boupacha (m. 19??)
Military career
AllegianceAlgeria National Liberation Army
Years of service1945–1962
RankFLN military chief of the Zone Autonome d'Alger
Battles/warsBattle of Algiers
Other workAuthor, film producer, actor, baker, politician

Biography

Yacef was born in Algiers. The son of parents from the Algerian region of Kabylia, he started his working life as an apprentice baker. In 1945, he joined the Parti du Peuple Algérien, a nationalist party which the French authorities soon outlawed, after which it was reconstituted as the Mouvement pour le Triomphe des Libertes Democratiques (MTLD). From 1947 to 1949, Yacef served in the MTLD's paramilitary wing, the Organisation Secrete. After the OS was broken up, Yacef moved to France and lived there until 1952, when he returned to Algeria to work again as a baker.

Yacef joined the FLN at the start of the Algerian War in 1954. By May 1956, he was the FLN's military chief of the Zone Autonome d'Alger (Autonomous Zone of Algiers), making him one of the leaders on the Algerian side in the Battle of Algiers. He was captured by French troops on 24 September 1957 and eventually sentenced to death. General Paul Aussaresses later asserted that while in custody, Yacef betrayed the FLN and the Algerian cause by providing the French army with the location of Ali la Pointe, another leading FLN commander.[1] Yacef denied it, and historian Darius Rejali considers the accusation as highly suspect.[2] He was ultimately pardoned by the French government after Charles de Gaulle's 1958 return to power.

Yacef claimed to have written his memoirs of the battle in prison although he was illiterate. The writings were published in 1962 as Souvenirs de la Bataille d'Alger. After the Algerian War, Yacef helped produce Italian filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo's film The Battle of Algiers (1966), based on Souvenirs de la Bataille d'Alger. Yacef played a character modeled on his own experiences in the battle.

Yacef died on 10 September 2021, aged 93,[3][4] in Algiers. His daughter Zaphira Yacef stated that he had been suffering from heart problems before his death.[5]

See also

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yacef Saadi.
  1. Aussaresses, Paul (2005). The Battle of the Casbah: Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Algeria 1955–1957. New York, Enigma Books. p. 162. ISBN 1929631308.
  2. Rejali, Darius M. (2007). Torture and democracy. Princeton University Press. p. 490. ISBN 0691143331.
  3. "Yacef Saâdi est mort : un grand nom de le révolution s'éteint". Algerie360. 10 September 2021.
  4. "Décès du révolutionnaire Yacef Saadi". El Watan (in French). 10 September 2021.
  5. Genzlinger, Neil (21 September 2021). "Saadi Yacef, 'Battle of Algiers' Catalyst and Actor, Dies at 93". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
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