Elaine Mokhtefi: key obituary facts
Is Elaine Mokhtefi dead? Yes. Elaine Mokhtefi died on September 11, 2026, at age 98.
Cause of death: Elaine Mokhtefi's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Elaine Mokhtefi known for?
She was an Algerian activist and author born in New York (*1928).
More about Elaine Mokhtefi
Born: 1 January 1928.
Place of birth: New York City.
Gender: female.
Occupation: journalist, writer, translator, painter.
Nationality: United States, Algeria.
Education: Wesleyan College.
Spouse: Mokhtar Mokhtefi.
Also known as: Elaine Klein.
Elaine Mokhtefi, the Algerian-American anti-colonial activist and writer known for her work as a translator and author, died on September 11, 2026, aged 98.
Born Elaine Klein in New York City in 1928, she studied at Wesleyan College before moving to Paris in her twenties, where she began translating for anti-racist and anti-colonial movements. Mokhtefi later supported the Algerian independence struggle and lived in Algeria from 1962 until she was forced to leave in 1974.
She wrote about that period in her memoir, Algiers, Third World Capital: Freedom Fighters, Revolutionaries, Black Panthers, published in 2018.