Hocine Mezali (Arabic: حسين مزالي) (born in Bordj Menaïel on 5 March 1938) is an Algerian journalist and writer. He had been the head of intelligence during the Battle of Algiers (1956–1957).[1][2]

Hocine Mezali
Native name
حسين مزالي
Born (1938-03-05) 5 March 1938 (age 86)
Bordj Menaïel, Algeria
OccupationMilitant, journalist, writer
LanguageFrench language
NationalityAlgerian
Alma materUniversity of Algiers
Notable works

Early life

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Mezali was born in 1938 in the town of Bordj Menaïel in the lower Kabylia region of Algeria, east of the Khachna Massif and south-east of the town of Boumerdès.[3] In his youth, his secondary studies were interrupted by the student strike of 19 May 1956, during the Algerian revolution.[4] Mezali then joined the National Liberation Front (FLN) and National Liberation Army (ALN). He served as the head of intelligence in the Autonomous Zone of Algiers (French: Zone autonome d'Alger)[5] during the Battle of Algiers (1956–1957).

Exiting Algeria in 1957 after the Battle of Algiers, Mezali pursued a university education and studied in several European countries, notably in Germany where he studied philosophy. On his return to Algeria after its independence in 1962, he enrolled at the University of Algiers where he studied law.[6]

Career

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Mezali contributed to creating the Algerian press, and his long career in official organs began in 1963 after Algerian independence was regained.[7]

L'Ouvrier Algérien

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Mezali began his journalistic career in the periodical "L'Ouvrier Algérien" affiliated with the Union générale des syndicats algériens (UGSA), which was later taken over by the General Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA).[8] Mezali was among the journalists who launched the first issue of this publication dated 17 August 1962.[9]

Mezali contributed to building the Algerian press building by joining in efforts to build its key structures.[10]

El Moudjahid

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In 1965, Mezali joined the daily El Moudjahid, a press organ launched that year which brought together some of the best French-speaking Algerian journalists of the time.[11][12]

Mezali preferred to cover lectures and debates led by leading figures in thought and dialectics in the 1960s and 1970s.[13]

His enthusiasm for the journalistic profession led him to also work at the Algeria Press Service (APS) and the Révolution Africaine, positioning himself as an Algerian press pioneer during the post-independence period.[14]

Television

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Mezali was a collaborator of Gillo Pontecorvo's team who directed the film The Battle of Algiers and was the main literary assistant of his close friend Saadi Yacef in his book about the Battle of Algiers (1956–1957).[15][16][17]

Mezali was the studio floor manager of the Casbah Film company's cinematographic epic in 1966.[18][19][20] He also participated in television productions as a media professional. He was among the journalists who instilled a dynamic of democratic openness in the only TV channel existing in Algeria.[21]

Horizons

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When Horizons newspaper was launched on 1 October 1985, Mezali was appointed to supervise the society section of this French-speaking daily, several of whose journalists came from the editorial staff of El Moudjahid and Algérie-Actualité.[22][23]

L'Observateur

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After a brief stint in the daily Le Nouvel Hebdo, Mezali left after a disagreement over the newspaper's editorial positions.[24] He then served as director of the monthly review L'Observateur published in Algiers from 1 March 1991, until November 1991.[25][26]

Books

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Mezali has written several books in his career, including:[27]

  • (1982) The battle of Algiers(French: La bataille d'Alger).[28][29]
  • (1984) The Conflagration (French: L'embrasement).[30][31]
  • (2008) The Temptation of Double Play (French: La tentation du double jeu).[32][33]
  • (2009) Algiers: 32 Centuries of History (French: Alger: 32 siècles d’histoire).[34][35]
  • (2013) Ferhat Abbas, A Man, A Visionary (French: Ferhat Abbas, un homme, un visionnaire).[36][37]
  • (2014) A Young Man from a Good Family – The Metamorphosis (French: Un jeune homme de bonne famille – La métamorphose).[38][39]
  • (2015) The Lord of Fifty (French: Le seigneur des cinquante).[40][41]

See also

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Bibliography

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  • Central Intelligence Agency (1968). Consolidated Translation Survey, Volume 6. Algiers: Foreign Documents Division. p. 15.
  • Hocine Mezali (2013). Ferhat Abbas, un homme, un visionnaire. Algiers: Dar Othmania. p. 318 pages. ISBN 978-9931368038.
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References

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  1. ^ "Mezali, Hocine [WorldCat Identities]".
  2. ^ "Mezali Hocine : journaliste, encyclopédie vivante et intellectuel d'exception". La Nouvelle République Algérie. 8 August 2020.
  3. ^ "L'appel des origines dans une Algérie des années 30: Toute l'actualité sur liberte-algerie.com". liberte-algerie.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Alger, 32 siècles d'histoire | El Watan". www.elwatan.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  5. ^ "La Guerre d'Algérie, vingt cinq ans après : La Bataille d'Alger 1957 - Fabrique de sens". Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  6. ^ "Mezali Hocine : Journaliste, encyclopédie vivante et intellectuel d'exception". La Nouvelle République Algérie. 8 August 2020.
  7. ^ Service, United States Joint Publications Research (13 March 1968). "Translations on Sub-Saharan Africa" – via Google Books.
  8. ^ ""Le journaliste est l'historien de l'instant" | El Watan". www.elwatan.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  9. ^ "L'Union générale des travailleurs algériens (UGTA) dans le processus de transition (1962-1963)". Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  10. ^ ""Ferhat Abbas était un visionnaire": Toute l'actualité sur liberte-algerie.com". liberte-algerie.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  11. ^ Bouchama, Kamel (13 March 2000). Algérie, terre de foi et de culture. Editions Houma. ISBN 9789961664940 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ "Présence francophone". Centre d'étude des littératures d'expression française. 13 March 1979 – via Google Books.
  13. ^ Abbou, André; Lévi-Valensi, Jacqueline (1972). "Journalisme et politique: l'Entrée dans l'histoire (1938-1940)".
  14. ^ "La démocratie sera-t-elle un jour télévisée? – Algerie360". www.algerie360.com. 17 December 2010.
  15. ^ "La Vie, la Mort".
  16. ^ "Rencontres cinématographiques de Béjaïa : La Bataille d'Alger sous l'objectif de Malek Bensmaïl | el Watan". Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  17. ^ "Malek Bensmaïl".
  18. ^ "Ciné-club : La bataille d'Alger, un film dans l'histoire de Malek Bensmaïl".
  19. ^ "The Battle of Algiers: A Film within History | Journeyman Pictures".
  20. ^ "Dettaglio la Bataille d'Alger, un film dans l'Histoire".
  21. ^ https://books.google.dz/books?gid=uMUiAQAAIAAJ
  22. ^ "Les 25 bougies de Horizons : "L'aventure continue" (*)". Centerblog. 2 October 2010.
  23. ^ "Un autre écrit sur le militant". Djazairess.
  24. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. ^ al-Waṭanīyah, Algiers (Algeria) al-Maktabah (13 March 1993). "al-Bīblīyūghrafīyah al-Jazāʾirīyah" – via Google Books.
  26. ^ "Dans une atmosphère décontractée".
  27. ^ "UN JEUNE HOMME DE BONNE FAMILLE, LA MÉTAMORPHOSE DE HOCINE MEZALI Les exploits d'un héros contemporain". Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  28. ^ Saadi, Yacef (13 March 1982). La bataille d'Alger: L'embrasement. Editions E.T.C. ISBN 9782900016008 – via Google Books.
  29. ^ "Amazon.fr : Hocine Mezali". www.amazon.fr.
  30. ^ "Hocine Mezali".
  31. ^ "Item no longer available".
  32. ^ Mezali, Hocine (13 March 2008). La tentation du double jeu: une histoire d'embrouilles et de trahison au coeur des réseaux du FLN en France : roman. Mille-feuilles. ISBN 9789947905098 – via Google Books.
  33. ^ "La tentation du double jeu. Une histyoire d'embrouilles et de trahison au coeur des réseaux du FLN en France – Livres – Limag". www.limag.com.
  34. ^ Mezali, Hocine (13 March 2000). Alger, trente-deux siècles d'histoire: aguelids, visirs et intrigues-- la fabuleuse Saga d'El Djazaïr. Synergie/ENAG. ISBN 9789961882016 – via Google Books.
  35. ^ Mezali, Hocine (13 March 2006). Alger: trente-deux siècles d'histoire. ENAG. ISBN 9789961624487 – via Google Books.
  36. ^ "Ferhat Abbas, un sujet inépuisable". Djazairess.
  37. ^ Amazon.fr – Ferhat Abbas, un homme, un visionnaire – Hocine Mezali – Livres. ASIN 9931368039.
  38. ^ "livre Hocine Mezali, Un jeune homme de bonne famille – La métamorphose". www.eldjalis.com.
  39. ^ "Un jeune homme de bonne famille – La métamorphose". www.goodreads.com.
  40. ^ Mezali, Hocine (13 March 2015). Le seigneur des cinquante ...: roman. OCLC 947058909 – via Open WorldCat.
  41. ^ "La Vie, la Mort".