Abd el-Kader ben Muhieddine (Arabic: عبد القادر ابن محي الدين) better known by the name of Emir Abdelkader - born September 6, 1808 near Mascara, Algeria, died May 26, 1883 in Damascus, Syria - is a man political, military leader who resisted fifteen years (1832-1847) to the expeditionary force of the Troops of Africa during the conquest of Algeria and is also writer, poet, philosopher and theologian Sufi. He is considered, in Algeria, as being at the origin of the Algerian nation and the symbol of the Algerian resistance against colonialism and French oppression; in Europe, he was considered the "Friend of the French". He was Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor and holder of the Order of Pius IX.