Mahdi Amel

In 1991, a collection of his work from the period between 1968 and 1973 was published as In Issues of Teaching and Educational Policies. In this collection, Mahdi describes how Lebanon's education system reproduces sectarianism and undermines overall education.

Hassan Abdullah Hamdan (Arabic: حسن عبد الله حمدان), more commonly known by his pseudonym Mahdi 'Amel (Arabic: مهدي عامل), (Harouf, Lebanon 1936 - Beirut, Lebanon 18 May 1987) was a Lebanese Marxist intellectual and militant in the second half of the 20th century.

Mahdi moved up the ranks of the Lebanese Communist Party, eventually becoming a member of the Central Committee in the Fifth Convention, which took place in 1987.

Mahdi 'Amel was assassinated on May 18, 1987 at the age of 51. Amel was walking on Algeria street when two men called his name. As he turned around, the men shot him. He died later that day at the American University of Beirut's hospital.

'Amil was assassinated at the age of 51, amidst the violence and chaos of the Lebanese civil war (1975–1990).

Upon returning to Lebanon in 1968, Mahdi began work as a teacher at a high school for girls. Later on, he changed jobs to become a full-time professor at the Institute of Social Sciences at the Lebanese University. There, he taught philosophy, politics, and methodologies.

In 1963, Mahdi moved to the newly independent Algeria with his wife, Evelyne Brun.

Mahdi was born in 1936 in Harouf, close to the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh. His parents moved him and his siblings to Beirut shortly afterwards. In Beirut, Mahdi attended high school at the al-Maqasid School. In 1956, Mahdi began his university studies in France, eventually receiving a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Lyon. Afterwards, Mahdi began his active involvement with the Lebanese Communist Party, joining in 1960.