Ferhat Abbas

Ferhat Abbas (24 August 1899 – 24 December 1985) was an Algerian politician and writer, the first president of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (GPRA) from 1958 to 1961 and the first president of Algeria's National Constituent Assembly after independence.¹

Abbas was born at Taher, in the Jijel region, into a family of local notables; his father was a caïd. After Qur'an schooling he studied at Sétif and Algiers and trained at the pharmacy school of the University of Algiers, then practised as a pharmacist in Sétif, where he entered politics.¹ His first book, Le Jeune Algérien (1931), set out the demands of the young Algerian educated class.²

On 10 February 1943 Abbas issued the Manifesto of the Algerian People, demanding an Algerian republic in federation with France. In 1946 he founded the Democratic Union of the Algerian Manifesto (UDMA) and was elected to the French Constituent Assembly.¹ Disappointed by the refusal of reform, he moved towards independence and in 1956 joined the National Liberation Front (FLN) in Cairo.²

When the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic was proclaimed in September 1958, Abbas became its first president, serving until August 1961.¹ After independence he presided over the National Constituent Assembly from September 1962 until his resignation in 1963; he was later placed under house arrest. His later books include La nuit coloniale (1962) and Autopsie d'une guerre (1980). He died in Algiers on 24 December 1985 and is buried in the El Alia Cemetery.¹

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