Hédi Baccouche (; 15 January 1930 – 21 January 2020) was the

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 ...

from 7 November 1987 to 27 September 1989. Baccouche led the

Socialist Destourian Party The Socialist Destourian Party ( ' ; ; ) was the ruling political party of Tunisia from 1964 to 1988. Bahi Ladgham was the first Prime Minister from the party and Hédi Baccouche was the last. It was founded on 22 October 1964 and disbanded on ...

until it changed its name to the Constitutional Democratic Rally in 1988. He was born in Hammam Sousse.

Biography

Baccouche studied in France during the 1950s. At the same time, he continued his political activities in the student union of the General Union of Tunisian Students. At the time, he was arrested in France, which was noted by Habib Bourguiba, who welcomed him in person after his release. During the 1960s, he was appointed governor and secretary of the coordination committee of Bizerte, which made him an ex-officio member of the central committee of the Destiny Socialist Party (PSD) after the Congress of Destiny held in Bizerte in 1964 and then he becomes successively governor of Sfax and Gabes. He was also mayor of Hammam Sousse from 1960 to 1964. Having been dismissed as Governor in the case of Ahmed Ben Salah, he was finally acquitted by the High Court in charge of this case. He later became CEO of the National Fisheries Office and then adviser to the cabinet of Prime Minister Hédi Nouira. Fallen in disgrace after the Congress of Progress and Fidelity of 1979, he is sent as consul general in Lyon. From 1981 to 1982, Baccouche was ambassador to Bern and the Holy See (Vatican) before becoming ambassador to Algeria and director of the PSD. In 1987, he was appointed Minister of Social Affairs. On 7 November 1987, he replaced Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who had just deposed President Bourguiba, as Prime Minister and Secretary General of the PSD. He is considered as the theorist of this "medical coup". On 27 September 1989, Hamed Karoui replaced him. Baccouche was appointed by President Ben Ali as a member of the Chamber of Advisers when it was created in 2005. He was also a member of the central committee of the ruling Democratic Constitutional Rally, until the dissolution of this body on 20 January 2011, in the context of the Tunisian revolution. He died on 21 January 2020, six days after his 90th birthday.

Honours

Tunisian national medals

* : * Grand Cordon of the Order of Independence *Grand Cordon of the Order of the Republic of

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 ...

*Grand Cordon of the Order of the Seventh of November

Foreign honors

* : Medal of Honor of the Republic of Algeria * : Grand Cordon of the

National Order of the Cedar The National Order of the Cedar () is the highest Order (honour), state order of Lebanon, established on 31 December 1936. It is offered in five grades. History The Order was created on the 31 December 1936, but is regulated by the Lebanese C ...

* : Grand Cordon of the

Supreme Order of the Renaissance The Supreme Order of the Renaissance (,) is the second-most senior order of merit in the Kingdom of Jordan. History The order was instituted in 1917 by Emir Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca. According to correspondence between the British For ...

* : Grand Cordon of the

Order of Ouissam Alaouite The Order of Ouissam Alaouite () or the Sharifian Order of Al-Alaoui is a military decoration of Morocco which is bestowed by the King of Morocco upon those civilians and military officers who have displayed heroism in combat or have contribute ...

* : Grand Officier of the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the Preside ...

* : First Class Commander of the

Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland (; ) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of all three orders. The ...

* : Knight of the

Order of the Niger The Order of the Niger (OON) is the second highest Award, national award in Nigeria. It was instituted in 1963 and is junior to the Order of the Federal Republic, the highest order of merit in the country. Award The two highest honours, the Gr ...

Publications

* ''L'agression française contre Sakiet Sidi Youssef'', Tunis, ed. Institut supérieur d'histoire du mouvement national, 2008 * ''En toute franchise'', Tunis, ed. Sud Éditions, 2018

References

External links

* 1930 births 2020 deaths People from Sousse Governorate Socialist Destourian Party politicians Democratic Constitutional Rally politicians Prime ministers of Tunisia 20th-century Tunisian politicians 21st-century Tunisian politicians Recipients of Supreme Order of the Renaissance (Jordan) Ambassadors of Tunisia to Algeria 20th-century diplomats {{Tunisia-politician-stub