Aziza Bennani (born 1943), is a Moroccan academic and politician.

Life

Born in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

, Bennani studied at

Mohammed V University Mohammed V University (, french: Université Mohammed-V de Rabat), in Rabat, Morocco, was founded in 1957 under a royal decree ( Dahir). It is the first modern university in Morocco after the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez. History The uni ...

in Rabat. After an undergraduate degree in Spanish language and literature, she gained a PhD with a dissertation on

Pedro Antonio de Alarcón Pedro Antonio de Alarcón y Ariza (10 March 183319 July 1891) was a nineteenth-century Spanish novelist, known best for his novel ''El sombrero de tres picos'' (1874), an adaptation of popular traditions which provides a description of village l ...

. She also gained a doctorate from

Paris X Nanterre Paris Nanterre University (French: ''Université Paris Nanterre''), formerly Paris-X and commonly referred to as Nanterre, is a public research university based in Nanterre, Paris, France. It is one of the most prestigious French universities, ma ...

with a thesis on

Carlos Fuentes Carlos Fuentes Macías (; ; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are ''The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (1962), '' Aura'' (1962), '' Terra Nostra'' (1975), ''The Old Gringo'' (1985) and ''Christophe ...

. She was head of the Department of Hispanic Studies at Mohammed V University from 1974 to 1988. In 1988 she became Dean of the Faculty of Letters at Hassan II Mohammedia University in

Mohammédia Mohammedia ( ar, المحمدية, al-muḥammadiyya; ber, ⴼⴹⴰⵍⴰ, Fḍala), known until 1960 as Fedala, is a port city on the west coast of Morocco between Casablanca and Rabat in the region of Casablanca-Settat. It hosts the most i ...

. IN 1994 Bennani was made high commissioner for the disabled, and she was secretary of state to the minister of higher education in

Abdellatif Filali Abdellatif Filali ( ar, عبد اللطيف الفيلالي; 26 January 1928 – 20 March 2009) was a Moroccan politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Morocco from 25 May 1994 to 4 February 1998. He was the 11th prime minister o ...

's 1997-8 government. In 1998 she was appointed ambassador to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

, and in 2001 succeeded Sonia Mendieta de Badaroux as chair of UNESCO's executive board.AZIZA BENNANI (MAROC) EST ELUE PRESIDENTE DU CONSEIL EXECUTIF DE L’UNESCO
Unesco Presse, 5 November 2001

References

1943 births Living people Government ministers of Morocco Moroccan women diplomats Moroccan women academics Literary critics of Spanish Moroccan literary critics Moroccan women literary critics People from Rabat Mohammed V University alumni Permanent Delegates of Morocco to UNESCO Women government ministers of Morocco Academic staff of Mohammed V University Moroccan anthropologists Moroccan women anthropologists Moroccan women ambassadors {{Morocco-politician-stub