Mohamed Hédi Chérif ( ar, محمد الهادي الشريف) (23 July 1932 – 23 January 2021) was a Tunisian historian and academic. He specialized in the modern and contemporary history of

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

Biography

After his studies at

Sadiki College Sadiki College, also known as ''Collège Sadiki'' ( aeb, المدرسة الصادقية, "El-Sadqiya High School"), is a '' lycée'' (high school) in Tunis, Tunisia. It was established in 1875. Associations formed by its alumni played a major rol ...

and the

École pratique des hautes études The École pratique des hautes études (), abbreviated EPHE, is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is highly selective, and counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions. It is a constituent college o ...

, he earned an

agrégation In France, the ''agrégation'' () is a competitive examination for civil service in the French public education system. Candidates for the examination, or ''agrégatifs'', become ''agrégés'' once they are admitted to the position of ''professe ...

in history in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and a doctorate from the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

in 1979. He was a researcher at the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 ...

from 1970 to 1974 before becoming a professor at the for over thirty years. He served as dean from 1987 to 1990. A professor emeritus at

Tunis University Tunis University ( ar, جامعة تونس, french: link=no, Université de Tunis) is a university in Tunis, Tunisia. It was founded in 1960 on the basis of earlier educational establishments. The University of Tunis is a member of the Mediterr ...

, he was a member of the Tunisian Council for Scientific and Technological Research, as well as a founding member of the

Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts The Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts (''Beït al-Hikma'') is a scholarly national academy based in Tunis. It is housed officially in a mid-19th century palace, Zarrouk Palace, situated on the Mediterranean coast at the base of the ...

. He worked several times as a visiting professor in

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. He also coordinated the Tunisian Republic's microfilming efforts at the French

Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs () is the ministry of the Government of France that handles France's foreign relations. Since 1855, its headquarters have been located at 37 Quai d'Orsay, close to the National Assembly. The term Qua ...

, to repatriate the archives of colonialism to Tunisia, and directed the history department at the . He once served as Editor-in-Chief of '. Chérif was one of the founders of the General Union of Higher Education and Scientific Research at the

Tunisian General Labour Union The Tunisian General Labour Union (french: Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail, ''UGTT''. ar, الاتحاد العام التونسي للشغل) is a national trade union center in Tunisia. It has a membership of more than one million and wa ...

and was a recruiter for Tunisian higher education. In 1987, he was appointed to the committee on awarding the literature and arts prize of the Tunisian Ministry of Culture. He was very well known for his research on the

Husainid dynasty The Husainid dynasty or Husaynid dynasty ( ar, الحسينيون) was a ruling dynasty of the Beylik of Tunis, which was of Greek origin from the island of Crete. It came to power under al-Husayn I ibn Ali in 1705, succeeding the Muradid dynast ...

. Mohamed Hédi Chérif died on 23 January 2021 at the age of 88.

Honours

*Officier (1969), then Commander of the Order of the Tunisian Republic (1971) *Officier of the

National Order of Merit of Tunisia National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(1992) *Commander of the (2013) *Knight of the National Order for work (Tunisia)

Publications

*(1980) ''تاريخ تونس : من عصور ما قبل التاريخ إلى الإستقلال'' *''Pouvoir et société dans la Tunisie de H'usayn Bin Ali (1705-1740)'' (1984) *''Histoire générale de l'Afrique, t. VI : L'Afrique au XIXe jusque vers les années 1880'' (1996) *''Histoire générale de l'Afrique, t. V : L'Afrique du XVIe au XVIIIe siècle'' (1999) *''Individu et pouvoir dans les pays islamo-méditerranéens'' (2009)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherif, Mohamed Hedi 1932 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Tunisian historians Academic staff of Tunis University French National Centre for Scientific Research scientists Members of the Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts 21st-century Tunisian historians