Ferhat Abbas

Ferhat Abbas (1899–1985) was educated as a pharmacist at the University of Algiers and initially advocated for democratic assimilation. Disillusioned by colonial racism, he drafted the landmark 1943 Manifesto of the Algerian People (Manifeste du peuple algérien), demanding an autonomous Algerian republic with its own constitution.

In 1946, Abbas founded the Democratic Union of the Algerian Manifesto (UDMA). In 1956, he rallied to the FLN in Cairo, placing his immense international diplomatic stature at the service of the revolution. In September 1958, he was elected the inaugural President of the GPRA, gaining diplomatic recognition from dozens of sovereign nations before serving as the first President of Algeria's Constituent Assembly in 1962.