Habib Bourguiba (1903 – 2000)
President of Tunisia from July 25, 1957 until 7 November 1987.
"How many times, have I had to seat women whom I received at audiences next to me, rather than facing me, in order to avoid general embarrassment? Nothing should compel us to suffer such trials. It puts the nerves of men and the modesty of women to a severe test."
"Give us arms! Give us arms!"
Bourguiba on people who patronized the Zéro de Conduite (Zero for Conduct), nightclub- "practice a shameful exhibitionism in morbid and degrading dances."
"I have carried this abscess too far, Tunisia is going through a difficult period. Freedom is dangerous."
Bourguiba's Neo-Destour Party paper, the L'Action,: "To be respected in 1958 one can no longer be a friend of the West. The day that Bourguiba decides to follow the path set by Nehru, Tito and Nasser, Tunisia will no longer be lied about and attacked. She will be wooed."