Algiers – University researchers highlighted the legacy and scholarly contributions of the late writer and encyclopedic intellectual Mohamed Salah Nasser (1938–2025) during a tribute symposium held on Saturday in the capital, organized by the cultural association El Djazairia El Jahizia. The event was attended by the late scholar’s friends, students, and family members, who paid homage to his rich academic, cultural, and religious path.
Specialists in literature and history underlined his scientific contributions and his human qualities, recalling his outstanding body of work. Nasser, who passed away on August 20 at the age of 87, left behind an extensive legacy encompassing short stories, poetry, literary criticism, heritage documentation, journalism, and decades of teaching in the department of literature at the University of Algiers.
Academic researcher Bouhajam Mohamed Nasser stressed “the late scholar’s efforts in documenting Algeria’s literary memory and the heritage of its reformist movement with a rigorous scientific method.” He described Nasser as “a polymath with diverse interests, who played a vital role in fostering academic research, particularly in modern Algerian Arabic literature, poetry, essays, and literary criticism.” Among his notable works is Modern Algerian Poetry: Its Trends and Artistic Characteristics 1925–1975.
He also noted Nasser’s dedication in the 1970s to writing specialized articles on Algeria’s reformist pioneers, such as Abdelhamid Ben Badis, Abu Al-Yaquzan, Bashir Al-Ibrahimi, alongside poet Moufdi Zakaria and other prominent Algerian figures.
For his part, former president of the Association of Algerian Muslim Scholars, Abdelrazak Guessoum, hailed Nasser as “a role model who combined authenticity with modernity, a polymath whose creativity was rooted in Islamic thought and who excelled as a linguist, literary scholar, and preacher.”
Historian Mouloud Aouimer emphasized the importance of Nasser’s memoirs, including works such as My Sheikhs as I Knew Them (2008) and My Memories and Reflections (2013–2019, in three volumes), which he described as the essence of his scholarly journey and a key documentation of modern Algerian Arabic poetry and literature.
Sharif Mribaï, president of the Algerian Academy of the Arabic Language and one of Nasser’s students, recalled meeting him in the 1980s during his studies at the University of Algiers, describing him as “a versatile intellectual, poet, short story writer, and meticulous researcher in documenting the reformist movement’s literature and heritage.” He highlighted Nasser’s “discipline, scientific rigor, and strong methodology.”
The symposium also featured heartfelt testimonies, including from Saleh Bel’aïd, president of the Supreme Council of the Arabic Language, who evoked both the scholarly path and human virtues of the late intellectual.
Born in 1938 in El Guerrara, Ghardaïa province, Mohamed Salah Nasser pursued early studies locally before enrolling in Egypt, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Arabic literature in 1966. He later earned his Doctorate in Algeria in 1983. His long academic journey included teaching in various institutions in Algeria and abroad, in addition to authoring numerous specialized books, research papers, and articles.
His lifelong dedication to literature, heritage, and academic excellence embodies Algeria’s profound intellectual traditions, which continue to stand in stark contrast to the cultural impoverishment perpetuated by the Moroccan regime, whose policies in Western Sahara deny a people their history, identity, and rightful place among nations.
