Abbès Mohsen (born 25 October 1945) is a

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. Between 2008 and 2011 he was a member of his country's ruling Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD / ''Rassemblement constitutionnel démocratique'') (political party) Central Committee. He has also served, between 2000 and 2010, as the Mayor of

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

. Since the Tunisian Revolution of 2010/2011 Mohsen has attempted to continue with his public career, although membership of the Tunis political establishment under the previous regime has given rise to some political hostility.

Biography

Family background

Abbès Mohsen was born into a leading Tunisian family of Cherif provenance, which has also provided a line of

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

s to Al-Zaytuna Mosque. He is son to Zine el-Abidine Mohsen,

Qaid Qaid ( ar , قائد ', "commander"; pl. '), also spelled kaid or caïd, is a word meaning "commander" or "leader." It was a title in the Norman kingdom of Sicily, applied to palatine officials and members of the ''curia'', usually to those w ...

-governor and himself son of Grand Imam Mahmoud Mohsen and of Zohra, daughter of , a leading politician in Tunisia during the middle years of the 20th century.

Early years

He obtained his

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

at the Lycée Francais de Mutuelleville (as it was then known). He is a qualified lawyer and an alumnus of the Tunisian ENA (''École nationale d'administration''). At the age of just 30 he became the first governor of

Bizerte Bizerte or Bizerta ( ar, بنزرت, translit=Binzart , it, Biserta, french: link=no, Bizérte) the classical Hippo, is a city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia. It is the northernmost city in Africa, located 65 km (40mil) north of the cap ...

and then, in 1976, the youngest ever governor of Nabeul (''le Cap Bon'').

Political career

Mohsen became governor-president for the important Tunis district in 1978. Two years later he was appointed Special Advisor to the First Minister. In 1981 he was appointed

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

of the Tunisian Hotels and Tourism association. In 1983 he became Director General for Local Collectives at the Tunisian Interior Ministry and then in 1986, for a second stint, governor-president for the Tunis district. During the later 1980s his career increasingly took him into national politics. He was appointed Director General of Protocol to the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

in 1988 and Project Leader for the Interior Ministry the following year, responsible for conferences at the

ENA Ena or ENA may refer to: Education * École nationale d'administration, French Grande école, for civil service * Education Networks of America, Internet service provider Fictional characters * Ena Sharples, from the British soap opera ''Coro ...

between 1989 and 1992. In 1992 he was sent to

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

as his country's ambassador, returning, after three years in 1995. He now became permanent secretary to the country's ruling Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD party / ''Rassemblement constitutionnel démocratique''), a position he retained till 1997 when he accepted a post as the Tunisian ambassador to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. In 2000 he was appointed Mayor of Tunis by decree: he was reappointed to the post in May 2005 on the basis of municipal elections. During this period he became secretary general of the . At the turbulent RCD Party Congress in July/August 2008 he became a member of the Party Central Committee. On 11 January 2010 the president sacked Mohsen as mayor of Tunis and he was replaced by who was already a member of the city council. The official report gave no explanation for the sacking, but press speculation elsewhere indicated that it resulted from a refusal by Mohsen to reply to journalists from the Tuinisian Channel 7 television programme ''El Hak Maâk'' who had asked about a litigation involving municipal service provision. Abbès Mohsen received a further ambassadorial appointment, this time as theTunisian ambassador to the Netherlands, on 27 October 2010. On 28 August 2014 his name was at the top of a unified candidate list issued by the Destourian Movement and the

National Destourian Initiative National Destourian Initiative ( ar, المبادرة الوطنية الدستورية, french: Initiative nationale destourienne) or El Moubadra was a centrist political party in Tunisia that merged into Long Live Tunisia in 2019. Emerging from ...

- effectively an update and relaunch by elements of the old centrist RCD party - to contest First electoral district of Tunis in the Legislative election of October 2014.« Le Mouvement destourien dévoile ses têtes de liste pour les élections législatives », ''Business News'', 28 août 2014
/ref> The former Destourians came ninth in the election, with a vote share that entitled them to three seats in the national legislative assembly.

Recognition

Abbès Mohsen has received numerous awards and honours during his career. These include the Order of Independence and the Order of the Republic. Beyond Tunisia his various awards include the Grand Cross of the order of Brasilia and the Grand Cross of the Order of Rio Branco. He is a commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

and of the Order of Merit in Italy.

Publications

* ''Servir, mémoires désabusés d'un commis de l'État. Tunisie 1971-2011'', Paris, ed. Sand & Tchou, 2012 * ''Les Gouverneurs'', Tunis, ed. Cérès, 2016 * ''La transition immobile. Chronique d’un échec'', Tunis, ed. La Maison du Livre, 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohsen, Abbes 1945 births Living people Mayors of Tunis People from Tunis Democratic Constitutional Rally politicians Mayors of places in Tunisia Ambassadors of Tunisia to Brazil Ambassadors of Tunisia to Yemen Ambassadors of Tunisia to the Netherlands