Houari Boumédiène

Algeria state institutions National liberation and anti-colonial movements 1932.8.23.–1978.12.27. ○ Died of illness

Algerian leader who nationalised oil and called for a union of raw-material producers behind a new international economic order

Born to a poor farming family near Guelma, Boumédiène studied in Constantine and at Al-Azhar in Cairo. He joined the National Liberation Front (FLN) in 1955 and in 1960 became chief of staff of its military wing, the ALN. After independence he became defence minister, and in June 1965 he overthrew Ahmed Ben Bella in a bloodless coup and ruled as Chairman of the Revolutionary Council. In 1971 he nationalised the Algerian oil industry and put the revenue into state-driven heavy industrialisation. At the UN's special session in April 1974 he held up OPEC's action as the first illustration of what a union of raw-material producers could achieve. He became president under the new constitution of 1976 and died of a rare blood cancer in December 1978.

Also known as: Houari Boumediene · Mohammed ben Brahim Boukharouba