AYAS, LÉON:

Interpreter of the French army in the Algerian campaign against Abd-el-Kader; died 1846. He received several wounds in the expeditions in the Oran, during which he captured one of Abd-el-Kader's lieutenants.

At the battle against the Bou-Maza he showedspecial bravery; killing five Arabs at a critical moment of the battle, and receiving wounds of which he died the following year.

Bibliography:
  • Feraud, Les Interprètes Algériens;
  • Revue Etudes Juives, xxxiv. 51;
  • Jost, Neuere Geschichte der Israeliten, ii. 212, Berlin, 1846.
S. J.
Images of pages