Lalla Fatma N'Soumer - Army Commander

Army Commander

Fatma N’Soumer did not give up. Even after the fall of Azazga and the ferocious repression by Randon’s troops, she mobilized the population and led more battles. She called her people to "fight for Islam, the land, and liberty. They are our constant, and they are sacred. They can neither be the object of concessions nor haggling." Her strong personality had a strong influence on all of Kabylie, shown by the sacrifice and determination of the people during all the battles, especially those of Icherridene and Tachkrit, where the enemy troops were greatly defeated. The latter took place on July 18, 1854, and resulted in a heavy toll for the enemy: 800 dead of which 56 were officers and 371 injured.

Randon finally asked for a cease-fire, which was accepted by Fatma N’Soumer, a political and military strategic decision. She planned to use the period of the cease-fire to improve her organization and reinforce her troops. The fields were plowed and sowed, and arms factories were installed in all corners of the region. However, this cease fire, like other signed cease fires and treaties, like those with Emir Abdelkader, was not respected by the French. After three years, in 1857, they broke their word after having prepared their armies and launched offensives against several large cities which were, until then, difficult to overtake.

Fatma N’Soumer, whose influence motivated the fighters for freedom, appealed to the people for a last and supreme effort. It was a matter of occupying three strategically important positions. Surrounded by women of the region, Lalla Fatma directed the fight and encouraged the volunteers who remained. The battle was lost, however.

In the same year, Fatma was arrested, imprisoned in the Issers then in Tablat. The French soldiers spent her fortune, which had been used toward caring for the disciples of her brother’s zawiya. Her rich library, which contained a rich source of scientific and religious works from the region, was completely destroyed.

Lalla Fatma N’Soumer died in 1863. The hardship from her incarceration and the frustration from her inability to act against the aggressions and insults to which her people were submitted, affected her so deeply that her health deteriorated. She was only 33 years old.