Daniel Ali Vérin
Daniel Ali Vérin (Arabic: دانييل علي فيرين), born in Algiers on June 18, 1933, and died in April 2025, was a teacher and mujahid (fighter in the Algerian War of Independence). Daniel Vérin, from a French family, grew up in French colonial Algeria. He began his career as a schoolteacher in the early 1950s. Deeply attached to his homeland and to the republican values of equality and justice, the young Daniel developed a keen political awareness at a very early age in the face of the blatant inequalities of the fundamentally unjust colonial system. When the Algerian War broke out on November 1, 1954, he made a radical and courageous choice by fully committing himself to the struggle for Algerian independence. He refused to obey the French military conscription order, and in 1955-1956, he officially joined the National Liberation Front (FLN), then the National Liberation Army (ALN). During this period, he adopted the first name "Ali," symbolizing his complete identification with the Algerian cause and culture. Daniel Ali Vérin then joined the forces led by Abdelhafid Boussouf, where he put his technical skills at the service of the revolution. He joined the MALG (Ministry of Armament and General Liaison), the FLN's intelligence service, as a radio and telecommunications specialist. Upon Algeria's independence in 1962, Daniel Ali Vérin obtained Algerian citizenship. He then went to the United States on a scholarship to pursue higher education, intending to put his new skills at the service of independent Algeria. In 1965, the Algerian embassy in Washington refused to renew his Algerian passport. This decision coincided with Houari Boumediene's coup d'état and illustrates the political tensions that were then dividing newly independent Algeria. His passport was not returned until the early 1990s, depriving him of his official Algerian identity for nearly three decades. During this period, he found himself in a particularly complex situation: pursued by France for his desertion and his involvement with the FLN, and not recognized by Algeria. Faced with this double exclusion, he obtained American citizenship in 1969, thus finding refuge in his adopted country. Despite this forced exile, Daniel Ali Vérin never renounced his Algerian identity or his convictions, continuing to closely follow the political evolution of Algeria and to advocate for the values that had guided his initial commitment. In 2001, nearly 40 years after independence, he finally obtained official Algerian citizenship, a belated but significant regularization. In 2004, the Algerian state granted him the status of mujahid (fighter in the war of liberation), thus formally recognizing his contribution to the struggle for national independence. In 2009, he participated in the founding of the Association of Algerian Skills Abroad (ACA) in Algiers, becoming one of its founding members. Daniel Ali Vérin passed away in April 2025, leaving behind a considerable legacy of memory and political significance for Algeria and for all those who fight for justice and the emancipation of peoples.
