Ali Bach Hamba

Ali Bach Hamba (1876 - 29 October 1918) was a Tunisian lawyer, journalist and politician. He co-founded the Young Tunisians with Bechir Sfar in 1907.

Ali Bach Hamba

Biography

Bach Hamba was born in 1876 in Tunis into a family of Turkish origin,[1][2] his brother, Mohamed Bach Hamba, was the editor of "Revue du Maghreb".[3] He studied at the Sadiki College prior to achieving a masters and then a doctorate in law at the Aix-Marseille University. In 1907 he and Bechir Sfar created a political group, the Young Tunisians (influenced by the Young Turks), with a French language weekly, "Le Tunisien", to speak for the interests of their countrymen.[4] They sought for equality and demanded for rights in accordance with the terms of the protectorate. In 1909 they were joined by Abdelaziz Thâalbi, and the movement acquired a religious as well as a constitutional character, with an Arabic as well as a French edition of "Le Tunisien". The popularity of the new party was demonstrated in 1911, when it protested against the Italian invasion of Libya.[4] In November 1911, a riot, quelled by troops, led to the proclamation of a state of siege. When in February 1912 an Italian tram-driver knocked down and killed a child, the Tunis Tram Boycott was organised, and Tunisian employees fought for equal pay with the Italian personnel. The government declared there had been a political plot and exiled Bach Hamba and Thaalbi. This popular protest and the workers’ demands was the first clear manifestation of a Tunisian national consciousness.[4]

References
  1. Ling 1979, 92.
  2. Puaux 1954, 16.
  3. Derrick 2008, 52.
  4. Brett 1984, 279.

Bibliography
  • Brett, Michael (1984), "The Maghrib: 1905-1914", in Crowder, Michael (ed.), The Cambridge History of Africa: Volume 7 c. 1905-c.1940, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521225051.
  • Derrick, Jonathan (2008), Africa's "Agitators": Militant Anti-colonialism in Africa and the West, 1918-1939, Columbia University Press, ISBN 0231700563.
  • Ling, Dwight L. (1979), Morocco and Tunisia: A Comparative History, University Press of America, ISBN 0819108731.
  • Puaux, Gabriel (1954), "Essai de psychanalyse des protectorats nord-africains", Politique étrangère, 1 (19): 11–28


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