Mohammed Mzali (, 23 December 1925 – 23 June 2010) was a

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

n politician who served as prime minister between 1980 and 1986.

Early life

Mzali was born in

Monastir, Tunisia Monastir, also called Mestir ( ', from the Greek "hermit's cell, monastery"), is a city on the central coast of Tunisia, in the Sahel area, some south of Sousse and south of Tunis. Traditionally a fishing port, Monastir is now a major tourist ...

on 23 December 1925. His family has ancestry from the Ait Mzal tribe, a

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

tribe from the

Sous The Sous region (also spelt Sus, Suss, Souss or Sousse) (, ) is a historical, cultural and geographical region of Morocco, which constitutes part of the region administration of Souss-Massa and Guelmim-Oued Noun. The region is known for the en ...

region of

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. Their Ait Mzal ancestor settled in Tunisia after coming back from the ''

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

'' in the late 17th century. Mzali studied at Sadiki College in Tunis and at the Faculty of Humanities at

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

in Paris. He was vice president of the Federation of Destourian Students in France from 1949 to 1950 and participated in literary social circles. He co-founded the literary magazine ''Al-Fikr'' in 1955 with Béchir Ben Slama.

Political career

Early career

Mzali was a member of the

Socialist Destourian Party The Socialist Destourian Party ( ' ; ; ) was the ruling political party of Tunisia from 1964 to 1988. Bahi Ladgham was the first Prime Minister from the party and Hédi Baccouche was the last. It was founded on 22 October 1964 and disbanded on ...

. He held a series of government posts starting in the late 1950s that would eventually culminate in his becoming prime minister in the early 1980s. He was first elected to Parliament in 1959 and would be re-elected several times thereafter. Other national positions he held starting in his early career included: General Director for Youth and Sport, founding Director of the Tunisia Radio and Television Company, Minister of Defence, Minister of Youth and Sport, Minister of National Education, Minister of Public Health, and Minister of Interior. Mzali served as Tunisia's

minister of education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

for three separate stints during the 1970s. One of his legacies while in this position was his support for

Arabization Arabization or Arabicization () is a sociology, sociological process of cultural change in which a non-Arab society becomes Arabs, Arab, meaning it either directly adopts or becomes strongly influenced by the Arabic, Arabic language, Arab cultu ...

in Tunisia at the time. He was interested in Tunisia pursuing a closer international relationship with Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia.

Terms as prime minister

Mzali was appointed

Prime Minister of Tunisia A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

by President

Habib Bourguiba Habib Bourguiba (3 August 19036 April 2000) was a Tunisian politician and statesman who served as the Head of Government of Tunisia, prime minister of the Kingdom of Tunisia from 1956 to 1957, and then as the first president of Tunisia from 1 ...

on 23 April 1980. In December 1983, under pressure from the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

, the government removed subsidies on flour and bread. This triggered the Tunisian bread riots, which were violently suppressed by the security forces with many deaths. President Bourguiba announced on 6 January 1984 that the increase in the price of bread and flour had been cancelled. He gave the impression that Mzali had not been authorized to raise prices. The clumsy handling of the price rise damaged the position of Mzali, who had been seen as the probable successor to Bourguiba. Mzali temporarily assumed the post of

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

. In an attempt to recover his popularity, Mzali toured the provinces after the riots, promising projects to create new jobs. He said "the first lesson to be drawn from the events of January was that it is necessary to reorganise the forces of order so that they can respond adequately to all situations."

Later career

Mzali was dismissed in 1986 and fled to France. He was replaced by

Rachid Sfar Rachid Sfar (; 11 September 1933 – 20 July 2023) was a Tunisian politician who served as prime minister under the presidency of Habib Bourguiba. Early life Sfar was born in Mahdia, the ancient Fatimite capital of Tunisia. He was the son of ...

. Mzali wrote many books, one of them untitled "Un Premier ministre de Bourguiba témoigne". He served as a member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

from 1965 until his death.

Personal life

Mzali met Fethia Mokhtar while they were both studying in Paris, and they married in 1950. They had six children, and Mokhtar served as Tunisia's Minister for Women from 1983 until 1986. Mzali died on 23 June 2010 in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mzali, Mohammed 1925 births 2010 deaths Tunisian Berbers Berber writers Alumni of Sadiki College International Olympic Committee members Prime ministers of Tunisia Interior ministers of Tunisia Youth and sports ministers of Tunisia Education ministers of Tunisia Defence ministers of Tunisia Health ministers of Tunisia Socialist Destourian Party politicians Tunisian Berber politicians Tunisian people of Moroccan descent 20th-century Tunisian people 21st-century Tunisian people Tunisian writers