Mohamed El Aziz Ben Achour

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Mohamed El Aziz Ben Achour
Born (1951-01-05) 5 January 1951 (age 73)
NationalityTunisian
EducationTunis University
The Sorbonne
OccupationHistorian
Political partyDemocratic Constitutional Rally
AwardsOfficer of Order of Academic Palms
Knight of the Ordre National du Mérite

Mohamed El Aziz Ben Achour (Arabic: محمد العزيز بن عاشور) is a Tunisian politician and historian[1] born on 5 January 1951; he specializes in urban, social and cultural history of modern Tunisia and the Islamic civilization.[2] He was the Minister of Culture[3][4] some time between 2004 and 2008, and later Director-General of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) some time between 2009 and 2013.[5]

Life[edit]

He was Director of Heritage Sciences at the National Heritage Institute[4] and later Director-General of Institut supérieur d'histoire du mouvement national (French for "The Higher Institute of History of the National Movement") as well as Governor of Historic Site at Sidi Bou Said at the same time. He also served as Municipal Councillor for the Democratic Constitutional Rally in Tunis for some time between 1995 and 2000, and later became Deputy Mayor of Tunis until 2005.

In November 2004, he was appointed Minister of Culture in the First cabinet of Mohamed Ghannouchi and remained at the head of the ministry until August 2008.[2] In December of the same year, he was elected Director-General of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization[4] for a four-year period that started on February 1, 2009.[2][6]

Education[edit]

Mohamed El Aziz belongs to the Ben Achour family, an ancient bourgeois family in Tunis which descends from Andalusia.[7] He is the grandson of Sheikh Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur,[8] and the son of Abdelmalek Ben Achour and Radiya Al-Jaluli.

He obtained a master's degree in history from Tunis University, then a degree in scientific studies, followed by a Ph.D. in Islamic civilization in 1977, and another in humanities in 1986, all from the Sorbonne.[9]

Main publications[edit]

  • Le musée du Bardo : hier et aujourd'hui, 1888-1988 (with Mounira Harbi-Riahi & Samia El Mechat), ed. Institut national d'archéologie et d'art, Tunis (1988).
  • L'Habitat traditionnel dans les pays musulmans autour de la Méditerranée : l'héritage architectural (with Jacques Revault & Jean-Claude Garcin), ed. Institut français d'archéologie orientale, Paris (1988).
  • Catégories de la société tunisoise dans la deuxième moitié du XIXe siècle, ed. Institut national d'archéologie et d'art, Tunis (1989).
  • Les ulamâ à Tunis aux XVIIIe et XIXe siècles, ed. Institut national d'archéologie et d'art, Tunis (1991) (reissue ed. ANRT, Lille).
  • La mosquée-université de la Zitouna. Le monument et les hommes, ed. CERES Publications, Tunis (1991)[10]
  • Les décorations tunisiennes d'époque husseïnite, ed. Sagittaire Publications, Tunis (1994)[11]
  • Les Arabes: du message à l'histoire (with André Miquel & Dominique Chevallier), ed. Fayard, Paris (1995) (ISBN 2-213-59330-2)
  • Le Bardo, palais des beys de Tunis, ed. Sagittaire Publications, Tunis (2000)
  • La cour du bey de Tunis, ed. Espace Diwan Publications, Tunis (2003)[12]
  • Zaouïas et confréries. Aspects de l'islam mystique dans l'histoire tunisienne, ed. Sagittaire Publications, Tunis (2004)[13]
  • L'Excès d'Orient. La notion de pouvoir dans le monde arabe, ed. Erick Bonnier Publications, Paris (2015)[14]
  • La Tunisie, la Méditerranée et l'Orient au miroir de l'histoire, ed. Leaders Publishing, Tunis (2020)
  • Aux temps des émirs et des beys. Épisodes de l'histoire tunisienne, ed. Leaders Publishing, Tunis (2022)[15]

Distinctions[edit]

Awards[edit]

Honours[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Ben Achour, Mohamed El-Aziz". viaf.org. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "H.E. Dr. Mohamed El-Aziz Ben Achour". WISE. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  3. ^ "Art Center Berlin 07 | Tunesian Culture | art place berlin". www.art-place-berlin.com. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  4. ^ a b c "MOHAMED-EL AZIZ BEN ACHOUR SIGNS THE APPEAL FOR THE NAPLES HEADQUARTERS OF THE MUSEUM OF PEACE - MAMT". www.fondazionemediterraneo.org. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  5. ^ "Irina Bokova pays tribute to the contribution of the Arabic language to universal culture | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  6. ^ "انتخاب السيد محمد العزيز ابن عاشور مديرا عاما للالكسو". تورس. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  7. ^ "عائلة بن عاشور". areq.net. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  8. ^ BGMN (2016-12-04). "Ben Achour library shelters rare manuscripts nowhere to be found". Tunisian Monitor Online. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  9. ^ "مدير عام "الألكسو" يحصل على جائزة المتوسّط للثقافة - فكر وفن - ثقافة - البيان". www.albayan.ae (in Arabic). 30 July 2012. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  10. ^ ابن عاشور، محمد العزيز (1991). جامع الزيتونة: المعلم ورجاله (in Arabic). Tūnis: Dār Sarās lil-Nashr. ISBN 978-9973-700-32-2. OCLC 31141614.
  11. ^ Ben Achour, Mohamed El Aziz (1994). Les décorations tunisiennes à l'époque husseïnite (in French). Tunis: Sagittaire éditions. ISBN 978-9973-9738-0-1. OCLC 45548797.
  12. ^ Ben Achour, Mohamed El Aziz (2003). La cour du bey de Tunis: document inédit avec préface, présentation historique, commentaires, notices biographiques et bibliographie complémentaire (in French). Tunis: Espace diwan. OCLC 60514991.
  13. ^ Ben Achour, Mohamed El-Aziz (2004). Zaouïas et confréries: aspects de l'Islam mystique dans l'histoire tunisienne (in French). Sagittaire ed. ISBN 978-9973-9738-5-6. OCLC 470731822.
  14. ^ Ben Achour, Mohamed El Aziz (2015). L'excès d'Orient: la notion de pouvoir dans le monde arabe : essai (in French). Erick Bonnier. ISBN 978-2-36760-043-7. OCLC 908013922.
  15. ^ "Un nouveau livre du Pr Mohamed-El Aziz Ben Achour : Aux temps des émirs et des beys. Episodes de l'histoire tunisienne". leaders.com.tn.
  16. ^ "Conservation of Sidi Bou Saïd | Aga Khan Development Network". www.akdn.org. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  17. ^ "The Director-General receives the "Mediterranean Award for Cultural Heritage" by the Fondazione Mediterraneo for her work in favor of the protection of cultural heritage worldwide | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2021-05-01.