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Saadi Yacef

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Saâdi Yacef
سعدي ياسف
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
Burial placeEl Kettar cemetery in Algiers
NationalityAlgerian
Other namesSi Djâffer, Réda Lee
Notable workThe Battle of Algiers
SpouseBaya Boudjema (m.1965)
ChildrenZaphira, Salima, Saida, Omar and Amin
Military career
Allegiance FLN
Service / branch ALN
Years of service1954–1962
RankFLN military chief of the Zone Autonome d'Alger
Battles / wars
Other workAuthor, film producer, actor, baker, politician

Saâdi Yacef (Arabic: ياسف سعدي, romanized: Yāsaf Saʿadī; 20 January 1928 – 10 September 2021) was an Algerian revolutionary, politician and actor. A prominent figure during the Algerian War, he served as a leader of the National Liberation Front.[1] He was a Senator in Algeria's Council of the Nation until his death.

Biography

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Yacef was born in Algiers. He was born in the bustling Casbah district of Algiers on 20th January 1928, to illiterate ethnic Berber parents. His parents spoke Berber rather than French or Arabic. The son of parents from the Algerian region of Kabylia, he started his working life at age of 14 as an apprentice baker. In 1945, at age of 17, 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.[2][3]

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.[4] 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.[5] Yacef denied it, and historian Darius Rejali considers the accusation as highly suspect.[6] He was ultimately pardoned by the French government after Charles de Gaulle's 1958 return to power.[2]

“The Battle of Algiers” movie, and Mr. Yacef’s 1962 memoir, Souvenirs de la Bataille d’Alger, which he had dictated to a friend in prison because he was barely literate, became a major influence on later guerrilla movements . 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 (named as Djafar) in the battle.[2][7][8]

Yacef died on 10 September 2021, aged 93,[9][10][1] in Algiers. His daughter Zaphira Yacef stated that he had been suffering from heart problems before his death.[11]

Quotations

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•"I'm convinced that a battle of ideas is not enough. It's necessary to lead the armed struggle to the end."

•"We had nothing, we had to break the wall of fear. But when you have the people behind you, nothing can stop you."

•"It’s hard to start a revolution. Even harder to continue it. And hardest of all to win it. But, it’s only afterward, when we have won, that the true difficulties begin.”[12]

•"Initially, we were just a few, but gradually, others rallied to our cause. The elderly, the young, women – they all united, recognizing the urgency. It's akin to a dormant warhorse, tranquil until stirred into action by a compelling trigger."[12]

•"I will do whatever I can to help my country until my death. At the Senate I try to devise laws that fit in with the way people live, and I give my opinion. And I will always do this, even if I leave the Senate. I will always try and be useful."[13]

See also

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References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yacef Saadi.
  1. ^ a b "Saadi Yacef, Algerian independence fighter who starred in 'Battle of Algiers,' dies at 93". 15 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Davison, Phil (15 September 2021). "Life of Yacef Saadi, FLN leader, who died at age of 93". The Washington Post.
  3. ^ Saleh, Heba (24 September 2021). "Saadi Yacef: 1928-2021; resistance fighter and actor". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  4. ^ https://www.facebook.com/middleeastmonitor (17 September 2021). "Algeria: resistance fighter Saadi Yacef dies, aged 93". Middle East Monitor. Retrieved 21 August 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help); External link in |last= (help)
  5. ^ Aussaresses, Paul (2005). The Battle of the Casbah: Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Algeria 1955–1957. New York, Enigma Books. p. 162. ISBN 1929631308.
  6. ^ Rejali, Darius M. (2007). Torture and democracy. Princeton University Press. p. 490. ISBN 0691143331.
  7. ^ Dingeman, Jim; Yacef, Saadi (2008). ""You Cannot Continually Inflict": An Interview with Saadi Yacef". Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media. 49 (2): 48–64. ISSN 0306-7661.
  8. ^ "Warscapes in conversation with Saadi Yacef". Warscapes. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  9. ^ "Yacef Saâdi est mort : un grand nom de le révolution s'éteint". Algerie360. 10 September 2021.
  10. ^ "Décès du révolutionnaire Yacef Saadi". El Watan (in French). 10 September 2021.
  11. ^ Genzlinger, Neil (21 September 2021). "Saadi Yacef, 'Battle of Algiers' Catalyst and Actor, Dies at 93". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Saadi Yacef Fought for Algeria's Freedom — Then Immortalized It on Film". jacobin.com. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  13. ^ "QUOTES BY SAADI YACEF". A-Z Quotes. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
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