Saïda Sassi (1921 – 25 July 2007) was a Tunisian

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 ...

. She was a key associate of her uncle

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 ...

Habib Bourguiba Habib Bourguiba (; ar, الحبيب بورقيبة, al-Ḥabīb Būrqībah; 3 August 19036 April 2000) was a Tunisian lawyer, nationalist leader and statesman who led the country from 1956 to 1957 as the prime minister of the Kingdom of T ...

during his tenure from 1957 to 1987.

Early life

Saïda Sassi was born in 1921 in Monastir. She was orphaned at age six and raised by her uncle,

. Unable to invest in her studies, she obtained only a study certificate. After the independence of Tunisia and the accession of her uncle to the presidency of the Republic, she entered

Carthage Palace Carthage Palace ( ara, قصر قرطاج), is the presidential palace of Tunisia, and the official residence and seat of the President of Tunisia. It is located along the Mediterranean Sea at the current city of Carthage, near the archaeologic ...

because Bourguiba asked her to live there with her husband. She quickly assumed important functions and was responsible for monitoring the health of the president.

Career

Sassi was a pioneer in the struggle for the independence of Tunisia and for the

emancipation of women Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

. With her arrival in

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

, she became a pillar of the presidential palace and succeeded in influencing her uncle, President Bourguiba. Her role was to ensure his safety; for over thirty years, she even slept next to his bed. She was considered a source of political conspiracies. She was responsible for maintaining her uncle's image by informing Tunisians that the president was more resistant than the media would admit.

Private life

Relationship with Habib Bourguiba

She had strong ties with the president and played an ambiguous role in the presidential palace. She allowed herself to interfere in the president's sexual life by recruiting women for him. Bourguiba devoted time to her and spent his days in her company, after meetings with political figures. After he was dismissed in 1987 for senility by Prime Minister

Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very smal ...

, Bourguiba left power and was transferred to the state residence of Mornag. Sassi remained loyal to him and continued to visit him until she moved to

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 ...

Relationship with Wassila Bourguiba

Sassi's relationship with the

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

and second wife of the President, Wassila Bourguiba, was tense since Sassi had the right to sleep at her uncle's bedside and had a say in his affairs, while Wassila was sidelined. The rivalry ended in 1986 with the divorce of Habib and Wassila.

End of life

A year after Bourguiba left power in 1987, Sassi settled in Paris. In 1995, she discovered that she had

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. She then returned to her native country and ended her days there, dying on 25 July 2007. Her

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

at the

Jellaz Cemetery Jellaz Cemetery ( ''Maqbara al-Jalāz''; also known as al-Jallaz and Cemetery Djalez) is a large hillside Muslim cemetery in Tunis, Tunisia, established in the thirteenth century. Located next to the bus station, the cemetery is the largest in the ...

was sparsely attended, mainly by relatives and friends.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sassi, Saïda 1921 births 2007 deaths Tunisian politicians