Algerian nationalist hero, born in Mascara, Algiers.

After the French conquest of Algiers, the Arab tribes of Oran elected Abd-el-Kader as their emir, and with stubborn determination he waged a long struggle with the French (1832-45).

Eventually crushed by overpowering force, he took refuge in Morocco, and began a crusade against the enemies of Islam, but was defeated in 1844.