Eveline Safir Lavalette

She is famous for her arrest by French colonial forces in 1956, as documented in her autobiographical text Juste Algérienne: Comme une tissure.

[7] The Algerian War of Independence between France and the FLN between 1954 and 1962 was catalyzed when minority European settlers gained French citizenship over Muslim and Arab majorities.

[8] The Battle of Algiers, a year-long street fight between rebel terrorist bombers and French security forces from 1956 to 1957, was a crucial point of conflict.

[10] Eventually, the fall of the Fourth Republic prompted France to withdraw from the war and grant Algerian Independence.

[11] When Algerian militants formed the FLN in 1954, thousands of women, including Lavalette, joined in their anticolonial struggle.

[9][8][10] Like other women at the time, but unlike other Pied-Noirs, Lavalette distributed resources (like pamphlets), transported messages, and provided food and housing to freedom fighters as they infiltrated rural mountain villages to kill French sympathizers and workers.

[8][10][12] The Feminist movement of the 1940s combined with the Revolution gave Algerian women like Lavalette the confidence to challenge societal values, break social taboos, assert their independence, and showcase their political importance.

In Lavalette’s case, she held power as an officer and fighter of the FLN and resisted French colonial abuse.

[10] Following the death of her husband, increasing violence, and forced homelessness, Lavalette moved back to Médéa to live amongst her friends.

Furthermore, her generation of women are particularly hesitant to publicly talk about their experiences due to their continued fights for equality under an Islamic Fundamentalist regime.