Editing Messali Hadj (section)

== Early life ==

Ahmed Ben Messali Hadj was born in [[Tlemcen]] in 1898. His father Hadj Ahmed Messali was of [[Turkish people|Turkish]] origin<ref name="Ness & Cope 2016 loc=634">{{citation |last1=Ness|first1=Immanuel|last2=Cope|first2=Zak|year=2016|title=The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism|isbn=978-0230392786|publisher=Springer|page=634|quote=Messali, an Algerian of Turkish origin who resided in Paris, founded in 1926 the first modern movement for Algerian independence}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Jacques|first=Simon|year=2007|title=Algérie: le passé, l'Algérie française, la révolution, 1954-1958|isbn=978-2296028586|publisher=Harmattan|page=140|quote=Messali Hadj est né le 16 mai 1898 à Tlemcen. Sa famille d'origine koulouglie (père turc et mère algérienne) et affiliée à la confrérie des derquaouas vivait des revenus modestes d'une petite ferme située à Saf-Saf}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Adamson|first=Fiona|year=2006|title=The Constitutive Power of Political Ideology: Nationalism and the Emergence of Corporate Agency in World Politics|publisher=University College London|page=25}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Ruedy|first=John Douglas|year=2005|title=Modern Algeria: The Origins and Development of a Nation|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0253217822|page=137}}</ref> and his mother Ftéma Sari Ali Hadj-Eddine belonged to a family of seven daughters, raised in Muslim traditions by their father, a [[qadi]], a member of the [[Darqawiyya]] brotherhood.<ref name="Simon2002">{{cite book|author=Jacques Simon|title=MESSALI HADJ (1898-1974): Chronologie commentée|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ng0zFoMJyZ8C&pg=PA25|date=1 January 2002|publisher=Editions L'Harmattan|isbn=978-2-296-29505-6|page=25}}</ref> He was educated in a local French primary school<ref name="Chalcraft 2016 loc=283">{{citation |last=Chalcraft|first=John|year=2016|title=Popular Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-1107007505|page=258}}</ref> and also received a religious education influenced by the Darqawiyya Sufi order.{{sfn|Naylor|2004|p=283}}

Messali Hadj served in the French army from 1918 to 1921; having trained in [[Bordeaux]] and then promoted as sergeant in 1919.<ref name="McDougall2017">{{cite book|author=James McDougall|title=A History of Algeria|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3-CBDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA167|date=30 April 2017|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-85164-0|page=167|author-link=James McDougall (academic)}}</ref> By October 1923, at the age of 25, Messali Hadj went to [[Paris]] to find work; upon his arrival, he sold bonnets and Tlemceni handicrafts,<ref name="McDougall2017" /> and he also enrolled in Arabic-language university courses.<ref name="Naylor 2004 loc=284"/> During his time in Paris, Messali Hadj met his French wife, [[Émilie Busquant]], a worker revolutionary’s daughter. His time in Paris also corresponded with the first meetings of Maghribi workers in France which called for the independence of all colonies. Abdelkader Hadj Ali recruited Messali Hadj to the [[French Communist Party]] (PCF) colonial commission in 1925.<ref name="McDougall2017" />