Myriam Ben

Myriam Ben (1928–2001) was an Algerian activist, militant, novelist, poet, and painter. She was born Marylise Ben Haïm in Algiers on October 10, 1928. 
Early life.
Her father was a communist who had served in the French army during the October revolution, and her mother was a musician. She was raised in a non-religious household, recalling later that she was seven years old before she realized her family was Jewish. In 1940, the Vichy French regime revoked the 19th century Crémieux Decree, so depriving Jewish Algerians of citizenship and resulting in Ben's expulsion from the lycée she had been attending in Algiers. She briefly attended a Jewish school, but completed her education at home due to her father's opposition to Zionism.
Social and political justice.
Even at a young age, Ben was active in the cause for social justice, particularly combatting poverty among Algeria's indigenous population. At 14 she became the president of the Young Communists. She was also active in the Women's Union, and through the organization's sponsorship became a school teacher in the town of Miliana. She and her fellow teachers instructed the students — mostly Muslim and impoverished — but also endeavored to raise their political consciousness and promote a decolonized sense of history.
Ben supported the anti-French National Liberation Front (FLN) from the beginning of the Algerian War of Independence, and joined the communist Combattants de la Libération guerrilla group where she helped transport weapons. The French government considered her a criminal and sentenced her, "in absentia," to 20 years of hard labor; however, she was never captured and years later would be forgiven. When the war ended in 1962, Ben became a member of the independent Algerian government.
Writings.
Having already been a teacher, a rebel, and a legislator, in 1967 Ben began her artistic career as a poet, short-story writer, novelist, and painter. She published a number of collections of poetry, a collection of short stories ("Ainsi naquit un homme"; 1982), and a novel ("Sabrina"; 1986). She was also celebrated for her abstract paintings.
France.
In 1991, as Algeria entered a period of civil war, Ben moved to France. She continued to write and paint until her death in 2001.