Tunisia Banknotes 20 Dinars banknote 1980 President Habib Bourguiba
Central Bank of Tunisia - Banque Centrale de Tunisie
Obverse: Portrait of Habib Bourguiba at right (full name: Habib Ben Ali Bourguiba; 1903 – 2000) was a Tunisian statesman who became the country's first President of the Republic of Tunisia from 1957 to 1987. The Amphitheatre of El Jem at center. The coliseum at El Jem was the third of six large coliseums in the Roman Empire (Rome, Jem, Arles, Nimes, Verona), and the most impressive Roman ruin in Africa (148m long, 122m wide, 427m perimeter). The note denomination is indicated in arabic figures and letters.
Reverse: View of the marina in Monastir with the Fort Ribat in the background. Traditionally a fishing port, Monastir is now a major tourist resort. Monastir was founded on the ruins of the Punic–Roman city of Ruspina. The city features a well preserved Ribat that was used to scan the sea for hostile ships as a defence against the attacks of the Byzantine fleet.
Watermark: Portrait of President Habib Bourguiba.
Color: Dark blue-green and brown on multicolor underprint.
Dimensions: 180 x 90 mm.
Date of issue: 26.12.1984.
Date of withdrawal: 30.06.2003.
Tunisia Banknotes - Tunisia Paper Money
15.10.1980 Issue
Habib Bourguiba
Habib Bourguiba (full name: Habib Ben Ali Bourguiba; 3 August 1903 – 6 April 2000) was a Tunisian statesman who became the country's first President of the Republic of Tunisia from 1957 to 1987.
Having worked as a lawyer in France in the 1920s, he returned to Tunisia and started being more active in the country's nationalist movement. In 1934, when he was 31 years old, he co-founded the Neo Destour that spearheaded the Tunisian movement for independence. After being arrested and exiled several times by the occupying French protectorate, he decided to both negotiate and put pressure on the Fourth Republic to put forward his nationalist agenda. Following the country's independence on 20 March 1956, Bourguiba put an end to the monarchy, declared the republic of which he served as first president on 25 July 1957 and then focused on building a modern Tunisian state.
His main priorities upon taking over power included the improvement of the country's educational system, fighting gender inequality, developing the economy and maintaining a neutral foreign policy, which made him an exception among other Arab leaders. This, however, did not prevent a cult of personality to develop around him as he held the title of "Supreme Combatant" and established a twenty-year single-party state. The end of his rule was marked by his declining health, the rise of clientelism and Islamism, which was concluded by his removal from power by his then prime minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on 7 November 1987. He was later kept under house arrest in a residence in Monastir, where he remained until his death in 6 April 2000, and was buried in a mausoleum he had previously built there.
Amphitheatre of El Jem
El Djem is famous for its amphitheater, often incorrectly called a Colosseum (roughly translated from Latin as 'that thing by the Colossus'), which is capable of seating 35,000 spectators. Only the Flavian Amphitheater in Rome (about 50,000 spectators) and the ruined theatre of Capua are larger.
The amphitheatre at El Djem was built by the Romans under proconsul Gordian, who was acclaimed Emperor at Thysdrus, around 238 and was mainly used for gladiator shows and small chariot races (like in Ben-Hur).
Many tourists come here to see what it was like to be inside what was once a place where lions and people met their fate. Much of it is crumbled but the essence of it still remains. It is also possible that construction of the amphitheatre was never finished.
Until the 17th century it remained more or less whole. From then on its stones were used for building the nearby village of El Djem and transported to the Great Mosque in Kairouan, and at a tense moment during struggles with the Ottomans, the Turks used cannons to flush rebels out of the amphitheatre.
The ruins of the amphitheatre were declared a World Heritage Site in 1979. It hosts the annual Festival international de musique symphonique d'El Jem.