The Contributions of Historian Mohamed-Seghir Ghanem to the Establishment of the Foundations of the Algerian Historical School

Abstract

Following independence, historical studies in Algeria witnessed the emergence of a distinguished group of researchers and historians specialising in ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary history. Among the most prominent scholars of the ancient history of the Maghreb was Dr Mohamed-Seghir Ghanem, who, despite his passing, left a rich scholarly legacy that helped reinterpret the region’s ancient history beyond the French colonial perspective that had long dominated most of its subjects. The writings of the Western historical school, particularly its French branch, dominated Maghrebi history, employing a foreign language and perspectives sustained by the colonial system. This predominance persisted despite their rigorous scholarly methods and extensive research output, which benefited from the French authorities’ active and material support for researchers in diverse fields, including archaeology, geography, linguistics, and anthropology, to link the history of France’s colonies to its own and understand them in depth. By contrast, Mohamed-Seghir Ghanem sought to rewrite Algeria’s ancient history in an Algerian idiom and from a national perspective, departing from colonial approaches that overlooked the indigenous population’s contributions to civilisation.