Ferhat Abbas

Abbas, Ferhat 

Born Aug. 24, 1899. An Algerian political figure and statesman. A pharmacist by profession.

In 1938, Abbas founded the “Algerian National Union,” which opposed the colonial regime and stood for complete equality of Algerians and Frenchmen. He headed the moderately nationalistic organizations “Friends of the Manifesto and Freedom” (1944–45) and the “Democratic Union of the Algerian Manifesto” (1946–56), which struggled for the autonomy of Algeria in a commonwealth federation with France. In 1956 he openly joined the National Liberation Front (FLN—Front de Liberation Nationale); in 1956–58 he was accepted into the leading bodies of the FLN. Abbas was appointed president of the provisional government of the Algerian Republic in 1958–61. In 1962—63 he became the president of the national assembly. In 1963 he retired from public affairs as a result of his disagreement with the internal politics of the government—he had come out for the introduction of bourgeois parliamentarism and against the one-party system. Abbas was then expelled from the ranks of the FLN and retired from active political life.