Hédi Amara Nouira (5 April 1911 – 25 January 1993) was a

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

n politician. He served as the second

prime minister of Tunisia A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

between 1970 and 1980.

Biography

Hédi Nouira was born in Monastir and trained as a lawyer. He served as one of the founders of the

Neo-Destour The New Constitutional Liberal Party (, '; French language, French: ''Nouveau Parti libéral constitutionnel''), most commonly known as Neo Destour, was a Tunisian political party founded in 1934 in Dar Ayed, the house of independence activist Ah ...

party and was a colleague of

Habib Bourguiba Habib Bourguiba (3 August 19036 April 2000) was a Tunisian politician and statesman who served as the Head of Government of Tunisia, prime minister of the Kingdom of Tunisia from 1956 to 1957, and then as the first president of Tunisia from 1 ...

. He was imprisoned for anti-colonial activities by the French from 1938 to 1943, but later represented the Neo-Destour during negotiations with France towards Tunisian independence in 1950. Following independence in 1956, Nouira was appointed as finance minister and was later appointed the governor of the

Central Bank of Tunisia The Central Bank of Tunisia (, , BCT) is the central bank of Tunisia. The bank is in Tunis and its current governor is Marouane Abassi, who replaced Chedly Ayari on 16 February 2018. History Tunisia gained independence in 1956. The Central Ban ...

in 1958. Following the failure of a short-lived Socialist experiment in the 1960s, Nouira liberalised the economy during the 1970s. In 1970, the then governor of the Central Bank, Nouira was appointed prime minister. The most decisive factor in Nouira's appointment seemed to be his commitment to private initiative as well as his financier's background. Having been named as President Bourguiba's successor in 1974, Nouira's tenure as prime minister saw him increasingly take the roles of the former, who was suffering from ill health. At the same time, he was criticised by workers and dissidents for his harsh stances on labor and opposition to multiparty politics. He retired from politics in 1980 after suffering a stroke. Nouira died on 25 January 1993, after suffering from an undisclosed illness.

Family

His younger brother, Habib Nouira, served as Tunisian Ambassador to Iraq, Kuwait, Syria and Egypt.

References

External links

* 1911 births 1993 deaths Prime ministers of Tunisia Trade ministers of Tunisia Finance ministers of Tunisia Neo Destour politicians Socialist Destourian Party politicians Governors of the Central Bank of Tunisia Interior ministers of Tunisia {{Tunisia-politician-stub