Abd al-Karim (1880–1963)

Moroccan chief known as the ‘Wolf of the Riff’. With his brother Muhammad, he led the Riff revolt against the French and Spanish invaders, defeating the Spanish at Anual in 1921. For five years he ruled his own Republic of the Riff, centred on Melilla. Then the Spanish sought military assistance from the French (who governed northern Morocco); a joint army of 160,000 under Marshal Pétain subdued the rebellion in 1925 and Abd al-Karim surrendered in 1926.

He was born near Melilla, Morocco, and worked first in the Spanish administration, and then as a teacher. His disillusion with foreign domination grew until, after a period spent in prison, he incited the peoples of the Riff area to rise against it. Banished to the island of Réunion, he was released in 1947 and died in voluntary exile in Cairo.