Dalenda Bouzgarrou-Larguèche (; born 1953), better known as Dalenda Larguèche, is a Tunisian historian specializing in the

early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

and women in Islamic societies. She is also a longtime political activist, particularly focused on the rights of women and other marginalized people.

Biography

Larguèche was born in 1953 in

Monastir, Tunisia Monastir, also called Mestir ( ', from the Greek "hermit's cell, monastery"), is a city on the central coast of Tunisia, in the Sahel area, some south of Sousse and south of Tunis. Traditionally a fishing port, Monastir is now a major tourist ...

. She joined the Tunisian Communist Party during a period when it was banned in the country, although the ban was lifted in 1981. She also became an activist with the

Tunisian Association of Democratic Women The Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (French: ''L'Association tunisienne des femmes démocrates'' (ATFD), Arabic: الجمعية التونسية للنساء الديمقراطيات) is a Tunisian feminist association which was founded ...

and the Association of Tunisian Women for Research and Development. Larguèche attended

Tunis University Tunis University (, ) is a public 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 Mediterranean University Union (UNIMED) and of Agence univers ...

, graduating in 1986 with a doctoral degree. She then became a professor of early modern history at Manouba University. Her activism extended to her work as an academic. In the early 1990s, with the support of some of her colleagues, she launched and developed the study of

women's history Women's history is the study of the role that Woman, women have played in history and Historiography, the methods required to do so. It includes the study of the history of the growth of woman's rights, women's rights throughout recorded history, ...

at Manouba University. Despite some resistance, the subject was introduced to the university's Department of Letters, Arts, and Humanities. She has served on the scientific councils of Tunis University, Manouba University, the Laboratory of Regions and Heritage Resources of Tunisia, and the American Institute for Maghrib Studies. She also oversees the "Gender, Women, Society, and Culture" research team. From 2011 to 2013, she served as director-general of the (CREDIF). After being fired by Minister for Women's Affairs Sihem Badi and replaced with Rachida Tlili Sellaouti, she returned to the director-general role from 2016 to 2018. She is married to the historian Abdelhamid Larguèche, with whom she has frequently collaborated on research, particularly on Tunisia's marginalized populations including prostitutes, Jews, Black Tunisians, and the poor.

Awards and recognition

* CREDIF prize for the best work of French-language scientific research (2001) * Book Prize from the

Arab Maghreb Union The Arab Maghreb Union ( '; AMU/UMA) is a political union and economic union trade agreement aiming for economic and future political unity among Arab countries that are located primarily in the Maghreb in North Africa. Its members are the natio ...

(2007) * CREDIF prize for the best scientific research on women and gender (2011) * Officer of the Order of the Republic of Tunisia (2015)

Selected works

In French

* ''Marginales en terre d’Islam'' (with Abdelhamid Larguèche), 1993 * ''Mémoire de femmes : Tunisiennes dans la vie publique, 1920-1960'' (collective work), 1994 * ''Histoire des femmes du Maghreb : culture matérielle et vie quotidienne'' (editor), 2000 * ''Territoire sans frontières : la contrebande et ses réseaux dans la régence de Tunis au XIX^e siècle'', 2001 * ''Femmes en ville dans le monde méditerranéen : passé et présent'' (editor), 2005 * ''Monogamie en islam : l’exception kairouanaise'', 2011

In Arabic

* ''L’Histoire du Maghreb moderne à travers les sources'' (المغرب العربي الحديث من خلال المصادر) (with Abdelhamid Larguèche and Jamel Ben Taher), 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larguèche, Dalenda 1953 births 20th-century Tunisian historians Tunisian women historians Tunis University alumni Academic staff of Manouba University Tunisian women writers Tunisian feminists Tunisian women activists Living people People from Monastir Governorate 21st-century Tunisian historians