Djamila Bouhired

Djamila Bouhired
Djamila Bouhired
Born Djamila Bouhired
1935
French Algeria
(now Algeria)
Nationality Algerian
Occupation Freedom Fighter
Organization Armée de Libération Nationale (ALN)
Political movement Front de Libération Nationale (FLN)
Religion Sunni Islam
Spouse Jacques Vergès (1963[1]–19??)
Relatives Mustapha Bouhired (1920–1957; Uncle)
Fatiha Bouhired (1932-1992; Aunt)

Djamila Bouhired (Arabic: جميلة بوحيرد‎, born 1935[2]) is an Algerian revolutionary.[3]

Bouhired is a nationalist[2] who opposed French colonial rule of Algeria. Djamila Bouhired was raised in a middle-class family, she went to a French school and joined the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) while a student activist. Later, she worked as a liaison officer and personal assistant of FLN commander Yacef Saadi in Algiers. She was considered valuable to the FLN because she looked European and could easily infiltrate places where French soldiers hung out. [4]

In April 1957, during the hunt for Yacef, she was wounded in a shootout between Yacef and French troops and taken by French troops. [5] When a French patrol stopped them, Yacef, who was disguised as a woman, drew a sub-machine gun and shot her in the back, so that she couldn't reveal information about him, but he only wounded her. [6] She was tortured with electricity and then sentenced to death.[3] Her execution was stopped after a media campaign by her French lawyer, Jacques Vergès. She was released in 1962 and was regarded as a hero in Algeria.

Bouhired and Vergès eventually married, and worked together on Révolution africaine, an Algerian magazine written in French focusing on African nationalist revolutions. She was one of the trio of FLN female bombers depicted in the 1966 film The Battle of Algiers. She was also depicted in the film Jamila the Algerian (1958) by Egyptian director Youssef Chahine.

Also see

Interview, Djamila Bouhired

References

  1. ^ http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=recDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT47&dq=djamila+bouhired&hl=en&ei=-9-5TvzaBsmF8gOpgdXCBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CD4Q6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=djamila%20bouhired&f=false
  2. ^ a b Kuhlman, Erika A. (2002). A to Z of women in world history. Infobase Publishing. p. 176. ISBN 9780816043347. http://books.google.com/books?id=VvmRG0f160MC&pg=PA176&dq=%22Djamila+Bouhired%22&hl=en&ei=srfVTJvqLoa2sAPHp4SNCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22Djamila%20Bouhired%22&f=false. Retrieved 6 November 2010. 
  3. ^ a b Knauss, Peter R. (1987). The persistence of patriarchy: class, gender, and ideology in twentieth century Algeria. Greenwood Publishing Group,. p. 80. ISBN 9780275926922. http://books.google.com/books?id=g0YNnNBI7-MC&pg=PA80&dq=%22Djamila+Bouhired%22&hl=en&ei=srfVTJvqLoa2sAPHp4SNCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Djamila%20Bouhired%22&f=false. Retrieved 6 November 2010. 
  4. ^ "A Savage Peace: Algeria 1954-1962, by Alistair Horne, copyright 1977, 1987, 1996 and 2006 by Alistair Horne
  5. ^ "A Savage Peace: Algeria 1954-1962, by Alistair Horne, copyright 1977, 1987, 1996 and 2006 by Alistair Horne
  6. ^ "A Savage Peace: Algeria 1954-1962, by Alistair Horne, copyright 1977, 1987, 1996 and 2006 by Alistair Horne


Stub icon This article about an African writer or poet is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.