From CIRA
February 2026
Ali Touati - June 21, 1953 - July 22, 2025
Ali Touati was the son of Marie Besset, who came from a hamlet in Auvergne, and Belkacem, who came from a village in Kabylie. His mother was a widow when she met Belkacem. Her husband, with whom she had a son, André, had died while a prisoner in Germany. Marie and Belkacem had three children: Louisa, Yamina, and Ali. Belkacem ran a furnished hotel that housed Kabyle workers, where Marie had a laundromat at 1 rue du Capitaine Soyer in Pré-Saint-Gervais in Seine-Saint-Denis. Belkacem died in 1959, leaving Marie alone with her four children, managing the hotel in the midst of the Algerian War. Ali remembered the Harkis raiding the hotel, the residents and his mother contributing to the FLN...
Ali dropped out of high school after his sophomore year. Close to libertarian ideas, he became involved at a very young age in the anarchist group in Pré-Saint-Gervais, where he met Georges Darbois, May Picqueray, José Morato, and Montsé Turtos. In the mid-1970s, he helped support the bookstore Le Jargon Libre, founded by Helyette Bess and Gilbert Roth on Rue de la Reine-Blanche in the 13th arrondissement. He was also part of the anarchist magazine Commune libre, where he met Jean-Louis Phan Van, and was an activist with the French CNT. He did odd jobs and went to live in England for a while. In early 1973, Ali was exempted from military service for being unsuited to military life.
On December 19, 1975, Ali was arrested while distributing a leaflet in Pré-Saint-Gervais about soldiers' committees. Equipment used to make leaflets was found at his home. Mr. Christian Gallut, an investigating judge at the State Security Court, had him imprisoned at Fresnes Prison as part of his investigation into attempts to demoralize the army. Ali chose Antoine Comte as his defense attorney. He was accused of conspiracy against the state, along with around 50 members of the far left involved in solidarity with the soldiers' committees. Prosecuted in January along with 11 of them, including libertarians Maryvonne Marcoux and Yann Houssin, before the State Security Court, he was released on February 12, 1976.
In 1977, Ali met Claudine Gerry, who already had a daughter, Alice Petiteau. They had two sons, Sylvain and Bruno. He was hired by La Poste, where he remained until his retirement in 2008. He worked nights at the postal check sorting center on Rue de Bourseul. He was a union activist, first with the CFDT and then with the CGT. All his friends at the postal check center remember his struggles, his kindness, his generosity, his availability, and his humanity.
In the mid-1980s, he was a member of COJRA (Comité d’organisations des journées anti-autoritaires), which met at 15 rue Gracieuse (5th arrondissement) at the Frente Libertario headquarters. The COJRA, whose members included Daniel Guerrier, José Morato, Fernando Moschi, Montsé Turtos, Marie Claude Raffaneau, and Michel Ravelli, published a bulletin of the same name (Paris, 4 issues, October 1984 to November 1985) and organized several days of debate in 1984 and 1985 in an attempt to unify the libertarian movement.
A life of activism rejecting all forms of authoritarianism. His most beautiful friendships were born within the libertarian movement and his trade union activity.
In addition, Ali had been a loyal member of the CIRA in Marseille for decades. He was also one of the founding members of the Les Acrates association, which enabled the acquisition of permanent premises for the CIRA.
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