Messali Hadj (Arabic: مصالي الحاج), whose real name was Ahmed Ali Messali Hadj, was born in Tlemcen, Algeria, on May 16, 1898, and died in Gouvieux, France, on June 3, 1974. He was an Algerian politician who played a pioneering role in the process leading to Algerian independence, which he began demanding in 1927.