Hassan Abdullah Hamdan (Arabic: حسن عبد الله حمدان), more commonly known by his pseudonym Mahdi 'Amel (Arabic: مهدي عامل), (Harouf, Lebanon 1936 – Beirut, Lebanon 18 May 1987) was a Lebanese Marxist philosopher, historian and militant in the second half of the 20th century.
Mahdi was born to a Shia Muslim family in 1936 in Harouf, close to the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh.
[1] Mahdi traveled widely within Lebanon to deliver lectures on Marxism and to discuss pressing issues with farmers around the country.
[1] Mahdi moved up the ranks of the Lebanese Communist Party, eventually becoming a member of the Central Committee in the Fifth Convention, which took place in 1987.
[3] On top of political activism and articles on Marxism, Mahdi also authored poems, which he signed under the name Hilal Bin Zaytoun.