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Djamila Bouhired
Algerian independence heroine; symbol of the Battle of Algiers
The young Algerian who carried bombs in her handbag and survived a death sentence to become a living symbol of liberation.
The rise
As a student in Algiers, Bouhired joined the FLN and became a courier and operative during the Battle of Algiers. Arrested, tortured, and sentenced to death in 1957, she was saved by an international campaign led by her lawyer Jacques Vergès. She became one of the most celebrated figures of the Algerian War of Independence.