Ferhat Abbas

Ferhat Abbas (1899-1985), Algerian leader in the struggle for independence, born in Taher, and educated as a pharmacist. A political moderate disillusioned with French policy, he advocated Algerian self-determination and independence and was intermittently jailed for his political activities. In 1956 he joined the Algerian Front de Libération Nationale (National Liberation Front; FLN) based in Cairo, Egypt, from where it was waging a war of independence against the French. From 1958 to 1961 he headed the Algerian government in exile. After independence (1962), Abbas soon quarrelled with the more radical FLN leadership and was placed under house arrest (1964-1965). He then retired from public life.