Morocco’s Azrou college: where a berber elite was forged

Conceived under French Protectorate rule as the cornerstone of a ‘Berber policy’ in Morocco, Azrou College was designed to cultivate a francophone Amazigh elite. This group was meant to serve the administration and military while remaining distant from the nationalist movements in cities like Fès and Rabat. History, however, had different plans. The institution produced not only ministers, governors, and judges, but also thirteen generals. Some alumni later served King Mohammed V and Hassan II, while others became casualties of the 1971 and 1972 coups. Drawing on Mohamed Benhlal’s research in Le collège d’Azrou : une élite berbère civile et militaire au Maroc, 1927-1959 and firsthand accounts from former students, this article explores the college’s pivotal role in shaping Morocco’s contemporary elite—and the political ambitions that ultimately failed.