Saïd Bouziri (June 4, 1947, in

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

– June 23, 2009, 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 ...

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...

by profession, was a

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

activist who was involved in several struggles related to

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

Biography

The eldest of a family of

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

s, Saïd Bouziri moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1966 as part of his studies. He studied in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

then in Paris. He joined a

Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

group for a while but quickly became convinced that immigrants should retain their political sovereignty and therefore found their own structures. This is what pushed him, in the context of the

Six Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

of 1967 and May 68 to participate in the founding of the Palestine Committee which will become the in 1973. He also founded the Committee for the Defense of life and rights of immigrant workers. In 1972, as part of the Marcellin-Fontanet circular, an expulsion order targeted him, as well as his wife, because of his activities. He then started a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

to assert his rights which had a great impact. He was supported by various personalities including

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

Claude Mauriac Claude Mauriac (25 April 1914 – 22 March 1996) was a French author and journalist. He was born in Paris, the eldest son of the author François Mauriac. Mauriac was the personal secretary of Charles de Gaulle from 1944 to 1949, before becoming a ...

and

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...

. A demonstration of support brought together more than 2,000 people and ended up winning the case. Anchored in the Goutte-d'Or district, he founded a socio-cultural center on and the activist radio station in 1981. He participated in several movements for the defense of undocumented migrants. Following the movement he participated in the organization of the

March for Equality and Against Racism The March for Equality and Against Racism (French: ''Marche pour l’égalité et contre le racisme''), also called the March of the Arabs (French: ''Marche des beurs'') by French media (''beur'' is the backslang Back slang is an English coded la ...

in 1983. Together with Driss el-Yazami, he created the association with for the purpose of preserving the history of immigration. He was also the national treasurer of Human Rights League (France) -LDH, for founding a structure in order to allow foreigners to vote in local elections. A street square in Pariswas named after him in honor of his human rights accomplishments.

References

External links

Saïd Bouziri Collection (1967-2006)
at Archives de La contemporaine {{Authority control Tunisian human rights activists Human Rights League (France) members Tunisian anti-racism activists Tunisian trade unionists Immigrant rights activists People from Tunis Governorate Hunger strikers 20th-century Tunisian businesspeople French human rights activists North African people 1947 births 2009 deaths