Ramdane Abane
Ramdane Abane was a leader of the Algerian war of independence and the main organiser of the Soummam Congress of August 1956. The airport of Béjaïa bears his name. Born on 10 June 1920 in Azouza, near Larbaâ Nath Irathen, in Kabylia, he died on 27 December 1957 near Tétouan, in Morocco.
Ramdane Abane was a leader of the Algerian war of independence and the main organiser of the Soummam Congress of August 1956. The airport of Béjaïa bears his name. Born on 10 June 1920 in Azouza, near Larbaâ Nath Irathen, in Kabylia, he died on 27 December 1957 near Tétouan, in Morocco.
The young Abane went to the Lycée Duveyrier in Blida, where he passed his baccalaureate.
Abane then worked in the local administration of Châteaudun du Rhumel, now Chelghoum Laïd. He joined the Algerian People's Party (PPA) and its secret Organisation spéciale. Arrested in 1950, he was sentenced in 1951 to 5 years in prison, and he was freed in January 1955.
From 1955 he led the political work of the FLN in Algiers. He brought other movements into the FLN, including supporters of Ferhat Abbas's UDMA and members of the Algerian Communist Party. In 1956 he launched the FLN newspaper El Moudjahid.
On 20 August 1956 the Soummam Congress met at Ifri Ouzellaguen, in the Soummam valley. It set 2 principles: political leaders come before military ones, and leaders inside the country before those abroad. Abane became one of the 5 members of the new executive committee, the CCE.
No conviction has been reported in connection with his death. His family house in Azouza is now a museum. In December 2025 Azouza and Larbaâ Nath Irathen marked the 68th anniversary of his death.
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