Habib Bourguiba

Habib Bourguiba (1903-2000) was the President of Tunisia from 1957-1987. He is likened to a Tunisian Kemal Atatürk because of the pro-Western reforms enacted during his administration.

Bourguiba was installed as president in 1957 after the overthrow of Tunisia's constitutional monarch. Regarded as an ideological moderate, he promoted secularism and and women's rights. He was chosen as President for Life by the Tunisian parliament in 1975.

His presidency was terminated when his old age and increasing senility caused Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to stage a coup against his government.

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