Mohamed Ali El Hammi

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Mohamed Ali El Hammi
Born(1890-10-15)October 15, 1890
DiedMay 10, 1928(1928-05-10) (aged 37)
NationalityTunisian
OccupationPolitical activist
Statue of Mohamed El Hammi in El Hamma founded in 2001

Mohamed Ali El Hammi (Arabic: محمد علي الحامي; 15 October 1890 – May 10, 1928) was an early twentieth-century Tunisian labor organizer during the era of the French protectorate over Tunisia. He is deemed as the father of Tunisian syndicalism.[1]

Life and legacy[edit]

He was born in El Hamma, Gabès, Tunisia. He moved to Tunis at age 8 when his mother died.[citation needed] He began his professional life as a personal driver for the Hungarian consul in Tunis. He also worked as a porter before obtaining his driving license in 1908. He then left for Germany and studied economics and political science at the University of Berlin.[2]

He founded the Confédération générale des travailleurs tunisiens (General Confederation of Tunisian Workers) in 1924, a year after returning to the country.[3][4] He led strikes and formed regional unions across Tunisia.[5] He was a friend and contemporary of Tahar Haddad.[5]

He was arrested and exiled by the French in 1925.[6]

Death[edit]

On May 10, 1928, he died in a mysterious car crash in Saudi Arabia. His remains were repatriated to Tunisia on April 6, 1968.[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Daniel Jacobs; Peter Morris (2001). The Rough Guide to Tunisia. Rough Guides. p. 342. ISBN 1858287480. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  2. ^ Emmanuel K. Akyeampong; Henry Louis Gates Jr. (2012). Dictionary of African Biography. Oxford University Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-0195382075. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  3. ^ Zayani, Mohamed (2015). Networked Publics and Digital Contention: The Politics of Everyday Life in Tunisia. Oxford University Press. p. 54. ISBN 978-0190239770. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  4. ^ Study on media development in Tunisia: Based on UNESCO's Media Development Indicators. UNESCO. p. 6. ISBN 9230011886. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Masri, Safwan. Tunisia: An Arab Anomaly. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017, 171–172.
  6. ^ Perkins, Kenneth J.. Historical Dictionary of Tunisia. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2016, 78.
  7. ^ Hfaidh Tababi, Mohamed Ali El Hammi , ed. Higher Institute of the history of the national movement, Tunis, 2005, pp. 13-36