THE BADASS LIBYAN WOMAN: THE LADY OF AL AZIZIA
Slema Bent Maghawess was from the tribe A Nnawael. She became famous in February 1912 by partaking in every single battle against the Italian colonizers in the city of Tripoli since the invasion, alongside the Mujahedeen (Libyans who rebelled against the Italian occupation).
Slema didn’t let anything get in the way of her fight for her country’s liberation, not even a bullet in her chest. Two weeks after her recovery, she retook her position among the Mujahedeen.
She touched the heart of a Frenchman, Paul Tristan, correspondent of the french newspaper “Le Petit Marseillais”. He became so fond of her that he offered her a sword. Here, she poses with that sword in a picture taken by Georges Remond, correspondent of the Parisian newspaper “L’Illustration”. He wrote that twelve female fighters arriving from Fezzan joined Slema in the Al Azizia Mujahedeen camp.
