Background
Mohammed was born on December 23, 1925, at Monastir.
Mohammed was born on December 23, 1925, at Monastir.
After education at Sadiki College, Tunis, he went to the Sorbonne, Paris, where he graduated in Philosophy. In 1949 he was vice-president of the Federation of Destourian Students and helped produce the party journal “El Horya’.
He returned to Sadiki College as a teacher in 1950 and then taught at the Alaoui Lycee. In 1955 he founded the cultural review “El Fikr’’. In 1956 he was appointed Chef de Cabinet at the Ministry of National Education. He became Director of Youth and Sport in 1959.
His political career began as MP of Monastir in 1959. He was a municipal councillor in Tunis for six years with responsibility for youth and sport. In October 1964 he was elected to the Central Committee and on November 11, 1964, was appointed to the party’s Political Bureau.
In 1963 he was president of Tunisia’s Olympic Committee and for two years he was president of the Tunisian Football Federation.
Appointed Director-General of TV and Radio in November 1964, he was then transferred to the Ministry of National Defence as a State Secretary on April 12, 1968.
He entered the cabinet on November 7, 1969, as Minister for Youth and Sport. Two years later he was promoted to Minister of National Education.
Leading figure in the party and government, concerned with youth. Fiver since his student days in Paris as a militant nationalist he has played an important role through education, television and the Press in trying to avoid a gap between government and governed. A former teacher and a sports enthusiast he has done much to promote football and athletics. As a writer he has contributed to political thought in magazines and cultural reviews.