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Moncef Marzouki
المنصف المرزوقي
Moncef Marzouki2.jpg
Marzouki in 2013
3rd President of Tunisia
In office
13 December 2011 – 31 December 2014
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
In office
22 November 2011 – 13 December 2011
Preceded by Constituency established
Succeeded by Samia Abbou
President of the Congress for the Republic
In office
24 July 2001 – 13 December 2011
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Abderraouf Ayadi (Acting)
President of the Tunisian Human Rights League
In office
12 March 1989 – 5 February 1994
Preceded by Mohamed Charfi
Succeeded by Taoufik Bouderbala
Personal details
Born (1945-07-07) 7 July 1945 (age 80)
Grombalia, French Tunisia
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.

Early Life and Education

Bourguiba Marzouki
Marzouki with Habib Bourguiba in 1982.

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

Signature de la Constitution tunisienne de 2014
Moncef Marzouki, President of the Republic, Mustapha Ben Jaafar, President of the Constituent Assembly & Ali Larayedh, Head of Government, Le Bardo, January 27, 2014.

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.

Moncef Marzouki, President of Tunisia
Moncef Marzouki speaking after receiving the Chatham House award in 2012.

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.

Mazouki and Kerry
Marzouki with U.S Secretary of State John Kerry, Carthage Palace, 2014.
Moncef Marzouki with Obamas 2014
Marzouki with US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama in 2014.

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

MoncefMarzouki
Marzouki during his speech after receiving the Chatham House Award, London, 2012.

Marzouki has received many awards and honors throughout his life.

Tunisian National Honors

  • Tunisia :
    • 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

Chattam
Chatham House prize in 2012, Moncef Marzouki & Rached Ghannouchi.
  • 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

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Moncef Marzouki para niños

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