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Tewhida Ben Sheikh
Tunisian physician (1909–2010) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Tewhida Ben Sheikh (Arabic: توحيدة بن الشيخ; also Tawhida Ben Cheikh, Taouhida Ben Cheikh) (January 2, 1909 in Ras Jebel – December 6, 2010)[1] was the first modern Tunisian and North African woman[2] to become a physician. She was also a pioneer in women's medicine, in particular contraception and abortion access.[3]
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Early years
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Tewhida Ben Sheikh was born in Tunis, Tunisia. Her early education was at Tunisia's first public school for Muslim girls, Lycée de la rue de Russie, which was established by "Tunisian nationalists and liberal French protectorate authorities". While attending this school, Ben Sheikh was taught Arabic, French, the study of the Qur'an, and modern subjects.[4] She travelled to the School of Medicine, Faculté de médecine de Paris to pursue her education, earning a degree in medicine in 1936.[5] Upon her return to Tunis, she was given a dinner in her honour by local doctors.[6]
Tunisia was a French protectorate at the time. Ben Sheikh came from an elite Tunisian family which was socially conservative, and her widowed mother who raised alone her five children was reluctant to allow her to go to France after secondary school; however, her secondary school instructors and a doctor from the Louis Pasteur Institute of Tunis (Dr. Etienne Burnet), persuaded Ben Sheikh's mother that she showed significant promise.[5]
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Professional achievements
Specializing in gynecology, when she came back to Tunisia Ben Sheikh directed a women's reproductive health clinic , often provinding free medical services for poor women . She was known as "the doctor of the poors " as she worked in a very popular neighborhood , treating patients living in difficult conditions.[1][6] Ben Sheikh was an "active" supporter of family planning; in the 1960s and 1970s, she instructed doctors in abortion procedures.[7]
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Civil society engagement
She served as the vice-president of the Tunisian Red Crescent.[2]
She was active in the Tunisian independence movement until independence from France in 1953.[2]
She contributed to the creation of several organizations to help orphans, promote children's care and education for the elderly. In 1950, she founded the Society for Social Aid (Jami'iyat al-Is'af al-Ijtima'i) جمعية الاسعاف الاجتماعي, the Orphanage Welcome (Dar al-Aytam), and Women's Welcome (Dar al-Mar'a).[8] She also established the Qammata Society for child care and maternal education, aimed streigntening awareness and training for mothers from poor families to obtain better healthcare.[9]
Legacy
At the initiative of the mayor of Montreuil, Dominique Voynet, a Tawhida-Ben Cheïkh health center was established in March 2011.[10][11]
A stamp featuring his likeness was issued in 2012 by the Tunisian Post.[11]
In March 2020, Dr. Ben Sheikh featured on the new 10-dinar banknote issued by the Central Bank of Tunisia.[12]
On 27 March 2021, Google celebrated her with a Google Doodle.[13]
On November 25, 2022, the municipality of Ras Jebel, in the Bizerte Governorate, unveiled a bust of Tawhida Ben Cheikh.[14]
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See also
References
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