Habib Bourguiba - Paris, France
N 48° 51.758 E 002° 18.355
31U E 449093 N 5412417
A bust of Habib Bourguiba, the first President of the Republic of Tunisia, is located in Paris, France.
Waymark Code: WMM4BP
Location: Île-de-France, France
Date Posted: 07/19/2014
Views: 13
ABOUT THE STATUE:
The Ambassador of Tunisia donated the bust of Habib Bourguiba to the city of Paris. The life-size bronze bust sits on a marble base and was created by Turkish sculptor Macunluoglu in 1969. Habib Bourguiba is wearing a suit jacket, vest, and tie and is staring straight ahead. In 2013, the bust of Habib Bourguiba was erected on the plaza that bears his name in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The bust was unveiled on the 57th anniversary of the independence of Tunisia.
A plaque on the base of the statue reads:
Habib BOURGUIBA
1903 - 2000
Fondateur et Premier President
de la Republique Tunisienne
1957 a 1987
ABOUT THE MAN:
"Habib Bourguiba (full name: Habib Ben Ali Bourguiba; 3 August 1903 – 6 April 2000) was a Tunisian statesman who became the country's first President of the Republic of Tunisia from 25 July 1957 to 7 November 1987.
Having worked as a lawyer in France in the 1920s, he returned to Tunisia and started being more active in the country's nationalist movement. In 1934, when he was 31 years old, he co-founded the Neo Destour that spearheaded the Tunisian movement for independence. After being arrested and exiled several times by the occupying French protectorate, he decided to both negotiate and put pressure on the Fourth Republic to put forward his nationalist agenda. Following the country's independence on the 20th of March 1956, Bourguiba puts an end to the monarchy, declares the republic of which he served as first president on 25 July 1957 and then focuses on building a modern Tunisian state.
His main priorities upon taking over power included the improvement of the country's educational system, fighting gender inequality, developing the economy and maintaining a neutral foreign policy, which made him an exception among other Arab leaders. This, however, did not prevent a cult of personality to develop around him as he held the title of "Supreme Combatant" and established a twenty-year single-party state. The end of his rule was marked by his declining health, the rise of clientelism and Islamism, which was concluded by his removal from power by his then prime minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on November 7, 1987. He was later kept under house arrest in a residence in Monastir, where he remained until his death in April 6, 2000, and was buried in a mausoleum he had previously built there."
--Wikipedia (
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