{{short description|Algerian militant and sociologist}} {{Other uses|Mahsas (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox writer | embed = | honorific_prefix = | name = Ahmed (Ali) Mahsas | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = Ahmed (Ali) Mahsas | native_name = أحمد (علي) محساس | native_name_lang = | pseudonym = Si Ali Mahsas | birth_name = Ali Mahsas | birth_date = 17 November 1923 | birth_place = Boudouaou, Boumerdès Province, Algeria | death_date = {{death date and age|2013|02|24|1923|11|17|df=y}} | death_place = Djasr Kasentina, Algiers Province, Algeria | resting_place = | occupation = Politician, academic | language = Arabic, Berber, French | nationality = Algerian people | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = *École pratique des hautes études *Sorbonne University | period = | genre = <!-- or: | genres = --> | subject = <!-- or: | subjects = --> | movement = *Algerian People's Party *Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties | notable_works = *Special Organisation (Algeria) | spouse = <!-- or: | spouses = --> | partner = <!-- or: | partners = --> | children = | relatives = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | years_active = | module = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.org}} --> | portaldisp = <!-- "on", "yes", "true", etc.; or omit --> }} '''Ahmed Mahsas''' ({{Langx|ar|أحمد (علي) محساس}}; 17 November 1923 – 24 February 2013) was an Algerian Fighter in the nationalist movement against French Algeria.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.depechedekabylie.com/evenement/120416-ahmed-mahsas-nest-plus/|title=Ahmed Mahsas n'est plus|first=La|last=Rédaction|date=25 February 2013}}</ref><ref name="lematindz.net">{{Cite web|url=https://www.lematindz.net/news/11137-ahmed-mahsas-sest-eteint-ce-dimanche.html|title=Ahmed Mahsas s'est éteint ce dimanche|website=Le Matin d'Algérie}}</ref>

==Early life== Ahmed Mahsas was born on 17 November 1923 in Boudouaou, Kabylia (now Boumerdès). He grew up in the wooded and mountainous region of the Col des Beni Aïcha.<ref name="liberte-algerie.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.liberte-algerie.com/actualite/ahmed-mahsas-nest-plus-119928|title=Ahmed Mahsas n'est plus: Toute l'actualité sur liberte-algerie.com|website=www.liberte-algerie.com/|access-date=7 March 2021|archive-date=26 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026060600/https://www.liberte-algerie.com/actualite/ahmed-mahsas-nest-plus-119928|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.djazairess.com/fr/liberte/43025|title="C'est moi qui ai recruté Abane Ramdane"|website=Djazairess}}</ref>

His family is from the village of Mahsas near Tidjelabine and the Zawiyet Sidi Boumerdassi. His parents settled in Boudouaou at the start of the 20th century.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.elwatan.com/archives/actualites/le-revolutionnaire-au-long-cours-sen-est-alle-25-02-2013|title=Le révolutionnaire au long cours s'en est allé &#124; El Watan|website=www.elwatan.com}}{{Dead link|date=September 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.algerie360.com/deces-de-ali-mahsas-il-faisait-partie-du-premier-noyau-qui-a-declenche-la-revolution/|title=Décès de Ali Mahsas, il faisait partie du premier noyau qui a déclenché la révolution – Algerie360|date=24 February 2013|website=www.algerie360.com}}</ref>

==Algerian nationalism== {{Main|Algerian nationalism}}

Mahsas was an early independence activist, and joined the Algerian People's Party (PPA) in Boudouaou in 1940 when he was 16.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.djazairess.com/fr/lemidi/1302251401|title=Ahmed Mahsas s'est éteint dimanche à 90 ans|website=Djazairess}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.echoroukonline.com/le-moudjahid-ahmed-mahsas-sest-eteint/|title=Le moudjahid Ahmed Mahsas s'est éteint|date=24 February 2013|website=الشروق أونلاين}}</ref>

He was arrested by French authorities for the first time in 1941 with Mohamed Belouizdad for his actions within the PPA in the Belcourt (Belouizdad) district of Algiers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.djazairess.com/fr/latribune/100989|title=Le Moudjahid Ahmed Mahsas tire sa révérence|website=Djazairess}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>

He became a militant in Algiers within organizations related to the PPA, such as the Central Youth Committee of Grand Paris ({{langx|fr|Comité central jeune du grand Paris}}) (CCJGA) and the Youth Committee of Belcourt ({{langx|fr|Comité de la jeunesse de Belcourt}}) (CJB).<ref name="algerie360.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.algerie360.com/deces-de-ali-mahsas-il-faisait-partie-du-premier-noyau-qui-a-declenche-la-revolution/|title=Décès de Ali Mahsas, il faisait partie du premier noyau qui a déclenché la révolution - Algerie360|date=24 February 2013|website=www.algerie360.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.djazairess.com/fr/elwatan/370029|title="Qui se souvient des 3024 disparus de La Casbah ?"|website=Djazairess}}</ref>

Mahsas was imprisoned several times for his militant activities and had important responsibilities within the PPA where he was a member of the Central Committee and the Organizing Committee. He also participated in organizational work at the territorial and national levels.<ref name="liberte-algerie.com"/>

Mahsas was drafted during World War II to serve under France in 1944 and 1945, but he refused to join the colonial French army. As a result, he was arrested in 1949 and sentenced by the court.

He was appointed as the head of wilaya (administration district) Constantine and member of the organizing committee of the PPA.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.djazairess.com/fr/lexpression/8932|title=Mahsas sort de sa réserve|website=Djazairess}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.djazairess.com/fr/latribune/79219|title=Le Moudjahid Ahmed Mahsas tire sa révérence|website=Djazairess}}</ref>

==Special Organisation== thumb|Book of Ahmed Mahsas (1974) {{Main|Special Organisation (Algeria)}} In 1947, Mahsas was one of the founders of the Special Organization (OS) of which he was a national staff member with Belouizdad.<ref name="algerie360.com"/> When OS was dismantled by the French police in 1950, he was second-in-command.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web|url=https://www.liberte-algerie.com/contribution/los-un-episode-meconnu-de-la-lutte-pour-lindependance-111635|title=L'OS un épisode méconnu de la lutte pour l'indépendance: Toute l'actualité sur liberte-algerie.com|website=www.liberte-algerie.com/}}{{Dead link|date=September 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref><ref name="algeriearabite.canalblog.com">{{Cite web|url=http://algeriearabite.canalblog.com/archives/2020/06/01/38338128.html|title=Réflexions d'Ahmed Mahsas à propos du mouvement révolutionnaire arabe (1974) - L'Algérie dans la Gloire de l'Arabité civilisationnelle|date=1 June 2020|website=algeriearabite.canalblog.com}}</ref>

Mahsas was arrested in 1950 when OS was dismantled, and was held in a prison in Blida along with other nationalist activists of the Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties (MTLD).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.algerie360.com/ahmed-mahsas-cest-le-peuple-algerien-qui-a-libere-et-defendu-lalgerie/|title=AHMED MAHSAS : "C'est le peuple algérien qui a libéré et défendu l'Algérie" – Algerie360|date=17 November 2012|website=www.algerie360.com}}</ref> From 19 March to 27 May 1950, most of the networks of OS in Constantinois, Algérois, and Orania were dismantled with more than 500 arrests, or half the number of militants.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

Five out of seven members of the staff were imprisoned: Ahmed Ben Bella, Djillali Belhadj, Djillali Reguimi, M'hamed Yousfi, Ahmed Mahsas, Driss Driss,<!-- There are six people listed here --> while others, including Mohamed Maroc, Lakhdar Ben Tobbal, Mohamed Boudiaf, and Mourad Didouche, escaped.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sahim.org/system/admins/sign_in|title=Decidim - Login|website=sahim.org|access-date=21 April 2021|archive-date=21 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421161114/https://sahim.org/system/admins/sign_in|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Mahsas escaped with Ahmed Ben Bella from an Algiers prison in 1952.<ref>[https://www.aps.dz/algerie/56057-c Cérémonie de recueillement au cimetière d'El Alia à la mémoire de Ahmed Ben Bella<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.echoroukonline.com/ahmed-ben-bella-un-militant-nationaliste-infatigable-et-un-dirigeant-de-la-revolution-algerienne/|title=Ahmed Ben Bella, un militant nationaliste infatigable et un dirigeant de la Révolution algérienne|date=11 April 2012|website=الشروق أونلاين}}</ref>

He then left Algeria for France, where he joined members of the Revolutionary Committee of Unity and Action to prepare for the Algerian Revolution.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elwatan.com/archives/actualites/ce-que-les-algeriens-retiennent-de-ben-bella-13-04-2012|title=Ce que les algériens retiennent de Ben Bella &#124; El Watan|website=www.elwatan.com}}{{Dead link|date=September 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>

During the crisis that arose in the MTLD after the April 1953 congress, Mahsas refused to choose between Messali Hadj and the centralists.<ref name="lematindz.net" />

==Algerian Revolution== {{Main|Algerian Revolution}} {{See also|National Liberation Front (Algeria)|National Liberation Army (Algeria)}} As soon as the Algerian Revolution began after the publication of the Declaration of 1 November 1954, Mahsas joined the National Liberation Front (FLN).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.djazairess.com/fr/lexpression/163984|title=L'écriture, l'arme secrète de Mahsas|website=Djazairess}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fondationmessali.org/Ce%20qui%20a%20ete%20dit%20sur%20le%201er%20Novembre%201954.html|title=Ce qu'ils ont dit sur le 1er novembre 1954|accessdate=17 March 2023}}</ref>

When the FLN Federation of France was created in December 1954, Mahsas was part of the first circle which worked to root the militancy of the FLN, which competed with the Messalists to gain the support of Algerian emigrants.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.liberte-algerie.com/actualite/le-1er-novembre-1954-marque-une-double-rupture-213307|title="Le 1er Novembre 1954 marque une double rupture": Toute l'actualité sur liberte-algerie.com|website=www.liberte-algerie.com/|access-date=8 March 2021|archive-date=3 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403062054/http://www.liberte-algerie.com/actualite/le-1er-novembre-1954-marque-une-double-rupture-213307|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Mahsas joined the city of Cairo in 1955 in order to join the FLN external delegation and become a member of the National Council of the Algerian Revolution in 1956 and 1957.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.elwatan.com/archives/histoire-archives/le-naufrage-de-la-plateforme-de-la-soummam-11-08-2005|title=Le naufrage de la plateforme de la Soummam &#124; El Watan|website=www.elwatan.com}}{{Dead link|date=September 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref><ref>[https://www.reporters.dz/20-aout-28-aout-1957-le-cnra-occulte-le-caire/ 20 août – 28 août 1957 : Le CNRA occulte Le Caire | REPORTERS ALGERIE<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Mahsas, like Ben Bella, denounced the results of the Soummam conference, and in December 1956 and early 1957 tried to bring dissident elements from the border regions with Tunisia together.<ref name="auto1"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://algeriesolidaire.net/le-conges-de-la-soummam-ses-enjeux-et-ses-consequences-par-afif-haouli/|title=Le congès de la Soummam : ses enjeux et ses conséquences Par Afif Haouli – Algérie solidaire|accessdate=17 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lopinion.fr/edition/international/22-octobre-1956-detournement-l-avion-fln-26085|title=22 octobre 1956 : détournement de l'avion du FLN|date=9 July 2015|website=L'Opinion}}</ref>

After Ben Bella was arrested in 1956, Mohamed Boudiaf, Hocine Aït Ahmed, Mohamed Khider, and Mostefa Lacheraf started a power dispute between supporters of Ben Bella and those of Abane Ramdane.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.echoroukonline.com/ahmed-ben-bella-un-militant-nationaliste-infatigable-et-un-dirigeant-de-la-revolution-algerienne|title=Ahmed Ben Bella, un militant nationaliste infatigable et un dirigeant de la Révolution algérienne|date=11 April 2012|website=الشروق أونلاين}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.djazairess.com/fr/lesoirdalgerie/1016355|title=Du gouvernement de l'Etat par le parti au gouvernement du parti par l'Etat (4e partie)|website=Djazairess}}</ref>

After a disagreement started between him and the other revolutionary leaders, Mahsas was ousted from the FLN base in Tripoli. He was then sentenced to death by Amar Ouamrane and imprisoned in a Tunisian prison. He escaped with some help, left for Germany, and remained there until Algerian independence in 1962.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.algerie360.com/20-aout-28-aout-1957-le-cnra-occulte-le-caire/|title=20 août – 28 août 1957 : Le CNRA occulte le Caire – Algerie360|date=28 August 2018|website=www.algerie360.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hoggar.org/2016/03/07/le-congres-de-la-soummam-ses-enjeux-et-ses-consequences-tragiques/|title=Le Congrès de la Soummam : ses enjeux et ses conséquences tragiques – الهوقار &#124; Hoggar|website=hoggar.org|accessdate=17 March 2023}}</ref>

After Mahsas had taken refuge in Germany, Ouamrane, who was in Tripoli, asked M'hamed Issiakhem to kill Mahsas in Bonn.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elwatan.com/edition/culture/je-livrais-des-uniformes-et-des-armes-a-laln-18-02-2020|title=Mohamed Issiakhem. Militant nationaliste, auteur de Mémoires d'un insoumis : "Je livrais des uniformes et des armes à l'ALN" &#124; El Watan|website=www.elwatan.com|access-date=8 March 2021|archive-date=6 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406210739/https://www.elwatan.com/edition/culture/je-livrais-des-uniformes-et-des-armes-a-laln-18-02-2020|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.djazairess.com/fr/elwatan/1641359|title="Je livrais des uniformes et des armes à l'ALN"|website=Djazairess}}</ref> Bachir El Kadi gave 1,000 dollars to Issiakhem to go to Bonn. Issiakhem found Mahsas and informed him about Ouamrane's plan before giving him 500 dollars and a recommendation to leave Germany.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lexpression.dz/culture/mohamed-issiakhem-ouamrane-m-a-ordonne-d-abattre-mahsas-328138|title=L'Expression: Culture - Mohamed Issiakhem : "Ouamrane m'a ordonné d'abattre Mahsas"|website=L'Expression}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.djazairess.com/fr/lexpression/328138|title=Mohamed Issiakhem: "Ouamrane m'a ordonné d'abattre Mahsas"|website=Djazairess}}</ref>

==Career== After Algeria became independent in 1962, Mahsas held several positions, including director of the home ownership and rural exploitation fund ({{langx|fr|Caisse d’accession à la propriété et à l’exploitation rurale}}), and director of the National Office for Agrarian Reform ({{langx|fr|Office national de la réforme agraire}}).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bp8IfVxOcEQC&pg=PA62|title = Algeria: The Politics of a Socialist Revolution|last1 = Ottaway|first1 = Professor Marina|last2 = Ottaway|first2 = David|last3 = Ottaway|first3 = Marina|year = 1970}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DaXArvEzoLAC&pg=PA35|title = Heurs et malheurs du secteur agricole en Algérie: 1962–2012|isbn = 9782336290515|last1 = Chabane|first1 = Mohamed|year = 2013| publisher=L'Harmattan }}</ref>

He was appointed on 18 September 1963 as Minister of Agriculture in Ben Bella's government, a post that he kept during the government reshuffle of 2 December 1964.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/autog_0338-7259_1976_num_35_1_1186_t1_0203_0000_1|title=Ahmed Mahsas, L'Autogestion en Algérie. Données politiques de ses premières étapes et de son application, Editions Anthropos, Paris 1975|first=Nourredine|last=Abdi|date=7 March 1976|journal=Autogestions|volume=35|issue=1|pages=203–204|via=www.persee.fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://editionsasymetrie.org/autogestion/ahmed-mahsas/|title=Ahmed Mahsas|date=22 November 2018}}</ref>

He was elected to the People's National Assembly as deputy for the Algiers Province on 20 September 1964, and was then elected member of the political bureau and of the central committee of the FLN.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.apn.dz/fr/les-membres/ancienne-legislature/liste-des-deputes-de-l-assemblee-nationale-1964 | title=APN }}</ref><ref name="liberte-algerie.com"/><ref name="auto"/>

The day after Houari Boumédiène organized the 1965 Algerian coup d'état on 19 June against the power of Ben Bella, Mahsas rallied the Revolutionary Council ({{langx|fr|Conseil de la révolution}}) and was thus maintained in his post of Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform in the new government formed on 10 July.<ref>[http://www.joradp.dz/Jo6283/1965/058/FP671.pdf Official Gazette of Algeria] (in French) Retrieved 17 March 2023</ref><ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.djazairess.com/fr/lesoirdalgerie/1014866|title=Le FLN historique : de la synthèse de la Soummam au schisme de Tripoli (3e partie)|website=Djazairess}}</ref>

Mahsas then was appointed member of the Revolutionary Council resulting from this coup, which led to Ben Bella's incarceration for 14 years.<ref name="lematindz.net"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jDw_AQAAIAAJ&q=Mahsas|title=The Algerian Political Elite: 1954-1967|first=William B.|last=Quandt|date=21 April 1968|via=Google Books}}</ref> But after a little more than a year of service under tutelage of the Revolutionary Council, a conflict arose between Mahsas and Boumédiène, which prompted the former to submit his resignation to be replaced on 24 September 1966 by the lawyer Ali Yahia Abdennour.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1966/10/31/le-conseil-de-la-revolution-prend-des-sanctions-contre-mm-boumaza-et-mahsas_2688165_1819218.html|title=Le Conseil de la révolution prend des sanctions contre MM. Boumaza et Mahsas|newspaper=Le Monde|date=31 October 1966|language=fr}}</ref>

==Doctoral studies==

After settling in France in September 1966, Mahsas resumed his university studies in Paris.<ref name="auto3"/>

In 1974 Mahsas defended a thesis to obtain a graduation diploma at the École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), the theme of which was Notations on the establishment of agricultural self-management in Algeria (1962-1964) ({{langx|fr|Notations sur la mise en place de l'autogestion agricole en Algérie (1962-1964)}}).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1dVVAAAAYAAJ&q=Mahsas|title=Inventaire de thèses et mémoires africanistes de langue française soutenus: Soutenances ...|date=21 April 1969|publisher=CARDAN-Cenre d'études africaines|via=Google Books}}</ref>

He obtained a degree in sociology, and in 1978 defended his thesis "The revolutionary movement in Algeria from World War I to 1954" ({{langx|fr|Le mouvement révolutionnaire en Algérie de la Première Guerre mondiale à 1954}}) under the direction of Jacques Berque.<ref>{{Cite thesis|url=http://www.sudoc.abes.fr/cbs/xslt/DB=2.1//SRCH?IKT=12&TRM=006602487&COOKIE=U10178,Klecteurweb,D2.1,Ee906fbdf-8a,I250,B341720009+,SY,QDEF,A%5C9008+1,,J,H2-26,,29,,34,,39,,44,,49-50,,53-78,,80-87,NLECTEUR+PSI,R208.80.154.81,FN|title=Le mouvement national en Algérie: formation du courant révolutionnaire de la première guerre mondiale à 1954|first=Ahmed|last=Mahsas|date=21 April 1979|publisher=École des hautes études en sciences sociales|via=Library Catalog - www.sudoc.abes.fr}}</ref><ref name="algerie360.com"/>

He published his thesis the same year at L'Harmattan, where he explained the theory of the Algerian Revolution and its achievements on the historical level, and described the context surrounding creation of the PPA and the OS.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.djazairess.com/fr/letemps/86827|title=Il faisait partie du premier noyau qui a déclenché la Révolution|website=Djazairess}}</ref>

==Political opposition== In his Parisian exile with Bachir Boumaza (1927-2009), Mahsas tried to collaborate in an action against Boumédiène power by joining the Clandestine Organization of the Algerian Revolution ({{langx|fr|Organisation clandestine de la révolution algérienne}}) (OCRA).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1966/10/21/le-ralliement-d-un-leader-syndicaliste-renforce-l-opposition-au-gouvernement-boumediene-un-regroupement-qui-s-annonce-laborieux_3127298_1819218.html|title=Le ralliement d'un leader syndicaliste renforce l'opposition au gouvernement Boumediene Un regroupement qui s'annonce laborieux|newspaper=Le Monde.fr|date=21 October 1966|via=Le Monde}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bw8XXLfTSQkC&pg=PA985|title=Documents Diplomatiques Francais: 1966 Tome II (1 Er Juin-31 Decembre)|first=Ministère des Affaires|last=étrangères|date=21 April 2006|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=9789052013213|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x4hOAAAAIAAJ&q=Mahsas|title=The Contemporary Review|date=21 April 1966|publisher=A. Strahan|via=Google Books}}</ref> the organization was created in April 1966 headed by Mohammed Lebjaoui,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://maitron.fr/spip.php?article157907|title=LEBJAOUI Mohamed [Dictionnaire Algérie] - Maitron|website=maitron.fr|date=6 April 2014}}</ref> a former leader of the Federation of France ({{langx|fr|Fédération de France du FLN}}).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bp8IfVxOcEQC&pg=PA220|title=Algeria: The Politics of a Socialist Revolution|first1=Professor Marina|last1=Ottaway|first2=David|last2=Ottaway|first3=Marina|last3=Ottaway|date=21 April 1970|publisher=University of California Press|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0N08WVek5hcC&pg=PA104|title=Algeria: A Study in Competing Ideologies|first=Kay|last=Adamson|date=1 January 1998|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=9780304700127|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W0EEAQAAIAAJ&q=Mahsas|title=L'Année politique africaine|date=21 April 1966|publisher=Société africaine d'édition.|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Mahsas quickly withdrew from OCRA because he saw leaders like Aït Ahmed and Boudiaf who had distanced themselves from it.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D-WydNuXLuwC&pg=PA191|title=1954, la guerre commence en Algérie|first=Mohammed|last=Harbi|date=21 April 1998|publisher=Editions Complexe|isbn=9782870277201|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5fAIAQAAIAAJ&q=Mahsas|title=Maghreb Digest|date=21 April 1966|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0g8aAQAAMAAJ&q=Mahsas|title=Europe, France outre-mer|date=21 April 1966|publisher=Société nouvelle des Editions France Outremer S.A.|via=Google Books}}</ref>

As a doctor in sociology, Mahsas returned in 1978 to the political struggle a year before Boumédiène's death, and he with Ahmed and Tahar Zbiri, created an opposition structure in Paris called the National Rally for Democracy and Revolution ({{langx|fr|Rassemblement national pour la démocratie et la révolution}}), which dissolved with the end of the old regime.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xUonAQAAIAAJ&q=Mahsas|title=The Maghreb digest|date=21 April 1967|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QATmAAAAMAAJ&q=Mahsas|title=Jeune Afrique|date=21 April 1966|publisher=Les Editions J.A.|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JjyGAAAAIAAJ&q=Mahsas|title=The Annual Register of World Events: A Review of the Year|date=21 April 1967|via=Google Books}}</ref>

==Return to Algeria== Mahsas returned to Algiers in 1981, a day after Boumédiène's death.<ref name="depechedekabylie.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.depechedekabylie.com/evenement/120416-ahmed-mahsas-nest-plus/|title = Ahmed Mahsas n'est plus|date = 25 February 2013}}</ref> He was then appointed by the government of the new president, Chadli Bendjedid, as Advisor to the National Publishing and Distribution Company ({{langx|fr|Société nationale d’édition et de diffusion}}) (SNED).<ref name="auto2" />

With the establishment of a democratic multiparty system in Algeria the day after the 1988 October Riots, Mahsas created a political party called the Union of Democratic Forces ({{langx|fr|Union des forces démocratiques}}) (UFD).<ref name="lematindz.net" /> The UFD was of Algerian nationalism obedience with an Arab-Muslim orientation according to the precepts of the Declaration of 1 November 1954.{{Clarify|reason=Can't make head nor tails of this grammar|date=May 2021}}<ref name="algeriearabite.canalblog.com" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://algeriearabite.canalblog.com/archives/2018/05/19/36416969.html|title=L'Union des Forces Démocratiques (اتحاد القوى الديمقراطية) d'Ahmed Mahsas - L'Algérie dans la Gloire de l'Arabité civilisationnelle|date=19 May 2018|website=algeriearabite.canalblog.com}}</ref> The UFD was deactivated per the law on political parties adopted by the National Transitional Council ({{langx|fr|Conseil national de transition}}) (CNT) in 1996.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.algerie360.com/il-sera-inhume-aujourdhui-au-cimetiere-del-alia-ahmed-mahsas-nest-plus/|title=Il sera inhumé aujourd'hui au cimetière d'El-Alia, Ahmed Mahsas n'est plus - Algerie360|date=25 February 2013|website=www.algerie360.com}}</ref>

Mahsas tried to reactivate the UFD in 2006, but failed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lexpression.dz/nationale/mahsas-offre-une-tribune-a-kebir-37994|title=L'Expression: Nationale - Mahsas offre une tribune à Kebir|website=L'Expression}}</ref>

==Death== Mahsas died on 24 February 2013 in the Aïn Naâdja military hospital located in Djasr Kasentina at age 90.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.djazairess.com/fr/lexpression/169665|title=Ahmed Mahsas inhumé au cimetière d'El-Alia à Alger|website=Djazairess}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.djazairess.com/elmassa/68825|title=المجاهد أحمد محساس في ذمة الله|website=جزايرس}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ennaharonline.com/أحمد-مهساس-يوارى-التراب-بمقبرة-الع/|title=أحمد مهساس يوارى التراب بمقبرة العالية |date=25 February 2013|website=النهار أونلاين}}</ref> He was to have been honored at the Moufdi Zakaria Palace of Culture as a former nationalist activist and previous minister of agriculture, but was evacuated and transferred to the military hospital in Algiers after suffering from a health problem on the sidelines of the ceremony of honor. He was kept in the hospital's intensive care unit, and scans and tests revealed that he was bleeding internally.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.echoroukonline.com/مهساس-إذا-حدث-لي-شيء-راهي-أمك-وأختك-في-ر|title=مهساس: "إذا حدث لي شيء.. راهي أمك وأختك في رقبتك يا بن يوسف"|date=22 February 2013|website=الشروق أونلاين}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.djazairess.com/elkhabar/324279|title=المجاهد أحمد مهساس في غيبوبة|website=جزايرس}}</ref> He was buried the next day in the El Alia Cemetery.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.liberte-algerie.com/actualite/ahmed-mahsas-inhume-hier-a-el-alia-119996|title=Ahmed Mahsas inhumé hier à El-Alia: Toute l'actualité sur liberte-algerie.com|website=www.liberte-algerie.com/}}{{Dead link|date=September 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.algerie1.com/actualite/ahmed-mahsas-inhume-au-cimetiere-del-alia-a-alger|title=Ahmed Mahsas inhumé au cimetière d'El-Alia à Alger|first=La|last=Rédaction|website=www.algerie1.com|date=25 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ennaharonline.com/أحمد-محساس-النواة-الأولى-لجبهة-التحري/|title=أحمد محساس النواة الأولى لجبهة التحرير الوطني|date=24 February 2013|website=النهار أونلاين}}</ref>

==Books== Mahsas had written several books during a long political and academic career, including:<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3339110n|title=L'Autogestion en Algérie : données politiques de ses premières étapes et de son application / Ahmed Mahsas|first=Ahmed (1923– ) Auteur du texte|last=Mahsas|date=7 March 1975|via=gallica.bnf.fr}}</ref> * ''Réflexions sur le mouvement d'unité arabe et ses perspectives'' (1974)<ref name="autogenerated2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GIqosKCXtWIC&pg=PA156|title = Dictionnaire des auteurs maghrébins de langue française|isbn = 9782865370856|last1 = Déjeux|first1 = Jean|date = January 1984| publisher=KARTHALA Editions }}</ref> * ''L'autogestion en Algérie: données politiques de ses premières étapes et de son application'' (1975)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ctUlAAAAMAAJ|title=L'Autogestion en Algérie: Données politiques de ses premières étapes et de son application|last1=Mahsas|first1=Ahmed|year=1975}}</ref> * ''L'Algérie: la démocratie et la révolution'' (1978)<ref name="autogenerated2" /> * ''Le mouvement révolutionnaire en Algérie, de la Première Guerre mondiale à 1954: Essai sur la formation du mouvement national'' (1979, 1990)<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_r-DwAAQBAJ|title=Le mouvement révolutionnaire en Algérie, de la Première Guerre mondiale à 1954: Essai sur la formation du mouvement national|isbn=9782307108948|last1=Mahsas|first1=Ahmed|date=January 1979|publisher=FeniXX réédition numérique }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://algeriearabite.canalblog.com/archives/2019/10/17/37720767.html|title=Le Mouvement Révolutionnaire en Algérie. Essai sur La Formation du Mouvement national de Ahmed Mahsas – Algeria and the Arab Nation on the front lines of the Cultural Renaissance and the Africa-Asia-South America Tricontinental|date=17 October 2019|website=algeriearabite.canalblog.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IS8lzgEACAAJ|title=Le Mouvement révolutionnaire en Algérie, de la 1ère guerre mondiale à 1954. Essai sur la formation du mouvement national|last1=Mahsas|first1=Ahmed|year=1990}}</ref> * ''Algérie, réalités coloniales et résistances: origines culturelles et socio-économiques de la révolution'' (2006)<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rUfcjwEACAAJ|title=Algérie, réalités coloniales et résistances: Origines culturelles et socio-économiques de la révolution|isbn=9789961483831|last1=Mahsas|first1=Ahmed|year=2006|publisher=Editions el Maarifa }}</ref>

==See also== * Algerian nationalism * Algerian War * List of Algerians * List of Algerian writers * El Alia Cemetery

==External links== * {{YouTube|GGRqKHHiGl8|(ar) Interview with Ahmed Mahsas}}

==Bibliography== * {{cite book |last=Ahmed Mahsas |date=1975 |title=L'autogestion en Algérie: données politiques de ses premières étapes et de son application |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ctUlAAAAMAAJ |location=Paris |publisher=Éditions anthropos |page=297 pages }}

* {{cite book |last=Ahmed Mahsas |date=1979 |title=Le mouvement révolutionnaire en Algérie, de la Première Guerre mondiale à 1954: Essai sur la formation du mouvement national |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_r-DwAAQBAJ |location=Paris |publisher=L'Harmattan |page=388 pages |isbn=9782307108948 }}

* {{cite book |last=Jean Déjeux |date=1984 |title=Dictionnaire des auteurs maghrébins de langue française |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GIqosKCXtWIC&pg=PA156 |location=Paris |publisher=Karthala Éditions |page=156 |isbn=9782865370856 }}

* {{cite book |last=Ahmed Mahsas |date=1990 |title=Le mouvement révolutionnaire en Algérie, de la Première Guerre mondiale à 1954: Essai sur la formation du mouvement national |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IS8lzgEACAAJ |location=Algiers |publisher=Éditions Barkat |page=388 pages }}

* {{cite book |last= |date=2002 |title=Guerres mondiales et conflits contemporains, Numéros 205 à 208 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3lIpAQAAMAAJ&q=Aichaoui |location=Paris |publisher=Presses universitaires de France |page=73 }}

* {{cite book |last=Ahmed Mahsas |date=2006 |title=Algérie, réalités coloniales et résistances: origines culturelles et socio-économiques de la révolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rUfcjwEACAAJ |location=Algiers |publisher=Éditions El Maârifa |page=152 |isbn=9789961483831 }}

* {{cite book |last=Maurice Faivre |date=2006 |title=Le renseignement dans la guerre d'Algérie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qLkuAQAAIAAJ&q=Aichaoui |location=Panazol |publisher=Lavauzelle |page= 83 |isbn=9782702513149 }}

==References== {{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahsas, Ahmed}} Category:1923 births Category:2013 deaths Category:People from Boudouaou Category:Kabyle people Category:École pratique des hautes études alumni Category:University of Paris alumni Category:Algerian resistance leaders Category:Algerian political people Category:National Liberation Front (Algeria) politicians Category:People of the Algerian War Category:Government ministers of Algeria Category:Algerian academics Category:Algerian sociologists Category:20th-century Algerian writers Category:French-language Algerian writers Category:Members of the People's National Assembly Category:Members of the Council of the Nation Category:Algerian expatriates in France Category:21st-century Algerian people Category:Members of the National Liberation Front (Algeria)