Samira Ben Abdelaziz

A Tunisian feminist who led North Africa's first women's political party

Samira Ben Abdelaziz (1930–2005) was a trailblazing Tunisian activist whose 1956 founding of the Union of Tunisian Women marked the first formal political organization for women in Arab North Africa. A lawyer by training, she combined legal advocacy with grassroots organizing, securing voting rights for Tunisian women four years before Algerian independence. Her 1963 manifesto became a blueprint for regional feminist movements. Abdelaziz pioneered the use of radio broadcasts to educate rural women about their legal rights, a strategy replicated across the Maghreb region. Her collaboration with the UNESCO in 1968 led to the first pan-Arab women's literacy program. Though her party disbanded in 1972, her efforts laid groundwork for Tunisia's 1956 Code of Personal Status. The BBC ranked her among the top 10 most influential Arab feminists of the 20th century. Her legacy is preserved in the Samira Ben Abdelaziz Archive in Tunis.