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12 Facts About Mahdi Amel

1.

Hassan Abdullah Hamdan, more commonly known by his pseudonym Mahdi 'Amel, was a Lebanese Marxist philosopher, historian and militant in the second half of the 20th century.

2.

Mahdi Amel contributed to the magazine al-Tariq, the mouthpiece of the Lebanese Communist Party.

3.

Mahdi Amel was born to a Shia Muslim family in 1936 in Harouf, close to the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh.

4.

Mahdi Amel's parents moved him and his siblings to Beirut shortly afterwards.

5.

In Beirut, Mahdi Amel attended high school at the al-Maqasid School.

6.

In 1956, Mahdi Amel began his university studies in France, eventually receiving a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Lyon.

7.

In 1963, Mahdi Amel moved to the newly independent Algeria with his wife, Evelyne Brun.

8.

Mahdi Amel traveled widely within Lebanon to deliver lectures on Marxism and to discuss pressing issues with farmers around the country.

9.

Mahdi Amel 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.

10.

Mahdi Amel was walking on Algeria street when two men called his name.

11.

Mahdi Amel died later that day at the American University of Beirut's hospital.

12.

On top of political activism and articles on Marxism, Mahdi Amel authored poems, which he signed under the name Hilal Bin Zaytoun.