Moncef Marzouki facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Moncef Marzouki
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المنصف المرزوقي
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![]() Marzouki in 2013
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3rd President of Tunisia | |
In office 13 December 2011 – 31 December 2014 |
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Prime Minister | Beji Caid Essebsi Hamadi Jebali Ali Laarayedh Mehdi Jomaa |
Preceded by | Fouad Mebazaa (acting) |
Succeeded by | Beji Caid Essebsi |
Member of the Constituent Assembly for Nabeul's 2nd district |
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In office 22 November 2011 – 13 December 2011 |
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Preceded by | Constituency established |
Succeeded by | Samia Abbou |
President of the Congress for the Republic | |
In office 24 July 2001 – 13 December 2011 |
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Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Abderraouf Ayadi (Acting) |
President of the Tunisian Human Rights League | |
In office 12 March 1989 – 5 February 1994 |
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Preceded by | Mohamed Charfi |
Succeeded by | Taoufik Bouderbala |
Personal details | |
Born | Grombalia, French Tunisia |
7 July 1945
Political party | Al-Irada |
Other political affiliations |
Congress for the Republic (until 2015) |
Spouse | Beatrix Rhein |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | University of Strasbourg |
Mohamed Moncef Marzouki (Arabic: محمد المنصف المرزوقي; born 7 July 1945) is a politician from Tunisia. He was the fifth president of Tunisia from 2011 to 2014. During his career, he has worked as a human rights activist, a doctor, and a politician. On 12 December 2011, a special group called the Constituent Assembly of Tunisia chose him to be the President of Tunisia.
Contents
Early Life and Education

Moncef Marzouki was born in Grombalia, Tunisia. His father was a religious judge. In the late 1950s, his family moved to Morocco because of political problems. Marzouki finished high school in Tangier in 1961. After that, he went to study medicine at the University of Strasbourg in France.
He came back to Tunisia in 1979. He started the Center for Community Medicine in Sousse. He also created the African Network for Prevention of Child Abuse. He joined the Tunisian League for Human Rights, a group that works to protect people's rights. When he was younger, he traveled to India to learn about Mahatma Gandhi's ideas of peaceful protest. He also visited South Africa to see how it changed from a system called apartheid, which separated people by race.
Political Journey
In 1991, the government took strong action against a group called the Islamist Ennahda Movement. Marzouki spoke out against President Ben Ali, asking him to follow the law. In 1993, Marzouki helped start a group called the National Committee for the Defense of Prisoners of Conscience. He later left this group because government supporters took control of it.
He was arrested several times for spreading information the government said was false. He also faced accusations of working with groups that were not allowed. After this, he started another group called the National Committee for Liberties. He became the President of the Arab Commission for Human Rights and is still a member of its main board.
In 2001, he started his own political party called the Congress for the Republic. This party was banned in 2002. Marzouki then moved to France but continued to lead his party from there.
After President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali left Tunisia during the Tunisian revolution, Marzouki announced he would return to Tunisia. He also said he planned to run for president.
Becoming President of Tunisia
On 12 December 2011, the Constituent Assembly of Tunisia elected Marzouki as the temporary president. This assembly was a group chosen to lead the country and write a new constitution. He received 155 votes. Some opposition parties did not vote because they thought the new temporary rules were not democratic. Marzouki was the first president who was not connected to the country's first president, Habib Bourguiba.
On 14 December, the day after he became president, he chose Hamadi Jebali to be the Prime Minister. Jebali was from the moderate Islamist Ennahda Movement. Jebali then formed his government on 20 December.

In May 2012, a TV station owner named Nabil Karoui was fined for showing a film called Persepolis. The film included pictures of God, which some people found offensive. Marzouki said that this decision was "bad for the image of Tunisia." He believed it made Tunisia look bad to the rest of the world.
As President, Marzouki helped create Tunisia's Truth and Dignity Commission in 2014. This was an important step for the country to heal and move forward after past problems.

In March 2014, President Marzouki ended the state of emergency that had been in place since the 2011 revolution. A state of emergency gives the government special powers during a crisis. It had been in place for a long time.
In April 2014, he decided to cut his own salary by two-thirds. He said this was to show that the government needed to set an example during a difficult financial time.
Marzouki ran for president again in the November–December 2014 election. However, he lost to Beji Caid Essebsi. Essebsi became president on 31 December 2014, taking over from Marzouki.
After Being President
On 25 June 2015, Marzouki took part in the Freedom Flotilla III. This was a group of boats trying to reach the Gaza Strip. On 29 June, the Israeli navy stopped the boats in international waters. Marzouki was taken to the port of Ashdod. He was deported to Paris on 30 June and returned to Tunis on 1 July. Hundreds of his supporters greeted him there.
In 2016, the African Union asked him to help oversee the presidential election in Comoros.
Personal Life
Moncef Marzouki has two daughters from his first marriage: Myriam and Nadia. Myriam is a director for a theater company. Nadia has a PhD in political science and studies religious topics.
In December 2011, he married Beatrix Rhein, a French doctor. The ceremony took place at Carthage Palace.
He owns a house in Port El-Kantaoui, near Sousse.
Moncef Marzouki prefers not to wear a tie. Instead, he often wears a burnous, which is a traditional cloak. He does this to honor Tunisian culture.
Awards and Honors
Marzouki has received many awards and honors throughout his life.
Tunisian National Honors
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- Grand Collar of the Order of Independence (as President of Tunisia)
- Grand Collar of the Order of the Republic (as President of Tunisia)
- Grand Collar of the National Order of Merit of Tunisia (as President of Tunisia)
International Honors
France : Commander of the Legion of Honour (2013)
Morocco : Special Class of the Order of Muhammad (2014)
Egypt : Grand Cross of the Golden Lion of Alexandria (2014)
Niger : Grand Cross of the Order of the Niger (2014)
Distinctions and Prizes
- The Maghrebian Medicine Prize (1982)
- Foundation Scanno Literary Prize (1988)
- The Price of the Arab Congress of Medicine (1989)
- Human Rights Watch awards for Freedoms (2001)
- Gold Medal of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2012)
- The Chatham House Prize for the year 2012 in London (with Rached Ghannouchi)
- Honorary Degree from University of Tsukuba in 2013
- Al Qods Prize for 2015 in Chicago
- Foundation Ducci Peace Award for 2016 in Rome
- One of the 100 Most Influential Arabs in the World in 2018
Main Books Published
- Arabes, si vous parliez, ed. Lieu commun, Paris, 1987
- Laisse mon pays se réveiller : vers une quatrième civilisation, ed. Éditions pour le Maghreb arabe, Tunis, 1988
- Le mal arabe, ed. L'Harmattan, Paris, 2004
- Dictateurs en sursis : une voie démocratique pour le monde arabe, ed. de l'Atelier, Paris, 2009
- L'invention d'une démocratie. Les leçons de l'expérience tunisienne, ed. La Découverte, Paris, 2013
- Tunisie, du triomphe au naufrage (with Pierre Piccinin da Prata & Thibaut Werpin), ed. L'Harmattan, Paris, 2013
See also
In Spanish: Moncef Marzouki para niños