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The Bourgiba's mausoleum
Habib Bourguiba

Habib Bourguiba (born 1903) was president of the Tunisian Republic and played a primordial role in leading his country's nationalist struggle for independence.

Habib Bourguiba was born on Aug. 3, 1903, at Monastir into a modest family. He completed secondary school in Tunis, adhering to the Destour, or liberal constitutional, party. In 1924 he won a scholarship to study political science and law in Paris. Upon returning to Tunis, he joined the bar and in 1930 launched his political career as a Destourian militant. He founded the newspaper Tunisian Action, in which he defined his political goal as the development of a modernist, revolutionary, and laic nationalism.