Study Day: The History of the Jews of Tunisia Today
Sunday 23 March 2025
10 am – 12 noon
PRESENTATION OF RECENT WORK ON THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS OF TUNISIA
Chaired by
JOËLLE ALLOUCHE-BENAYOUN
Honorary senior lecturer, associate member of GSRL (CNRS-EPHE)
Vice-President of the Society for the History of the Jews of Tunisia (SHJT)
Twansa in Europe and the Mediterranean in the 19th century: some Samama examples
Thierry Samama
Cercle de Généalogie juive (Jewish Genealogy Circle)
The reappropriation of Jewishness in the work of Albert Memmi
Riccardo Bravi
Aix-Marseille University
The cultural, social and communal role of the “Tahalil songs” in the Judeo-Tunisian heritage
David Ichoua Moatty
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The names and origins of the Grana community of Tunisia
Alexandre Beider
École Pratique des Hautes Études
—
2 pm – 3:30 pm
ON RECENT BOOKS ABOUT THE JEWS OF TUNISIA
PRESENTATION AND CONVERSATIONS WITH THE AUTHORS
Chaired by
Catherine NICAULT
Professor emerita at the University of Reims
L’Ecole de l’Exil : Tribulations Méditerranéennes
by Josiane Sberro
In conversation with
Nathalie Cohen
Agrégée de l’Université
Les Juifs, nos frères en la patrie
by Habib Kazdaghli
Retired university historian
Former dean of the Faculty of Letters of Manouba (Tunisia)
In conversation with
Jessica Marglin
University of Southern California
Les Juifs de Tunisie au Combat (1914-1945)
by Marie-Anne Besnier-Guez
In conversation with
Jérémy Guedj
Université Côte d’Azur
—
3:45 pm – 5 pm
HISTORY OF THE JEWS OF TUNISIA: RESEARCH AND HISTORIOGRAPHY TODAY
ROUND TABLE
Chaired by
Frédéric ABECASSIS
Senior lecturer in contemporary history, ENS-Lyon – LARHRA
Participants:
Jérémy Guedj
Senior lecturer at Université Côte d’Azur
Habib Kazdaghli
Retired university historian
Honorary dean of the Faculty of Letters of Manouba (Tunisia)
Haïm Saadoun
Professor at the Open University of Israel and the Ben-Zvi Institute
Valérie Assan
GSRL (CNRS-EPHE)
President of the Commission française des archives juives
Claude Nataf
President of the Society for the History of the Jews of Tunisia
SHJT speakers
Joëlle Allouche-Benayoun
Vice-President
Biography
PhD in Social Sciences (Sorbonne), honorary Senior Lecturer (University of Paris XII), vice-president of the Cercle de généalogie Juive (CGJ), CNRS researcher (Groupe société, religions, laïcité, GSRL). Research on the Jews of Algeria and the Jews of North Africa. Has published numerous books and articles in this field. Currently working on the Archives of Constantine (1795-1929).
Thierry Samama
Board member
Biography
Engineer, École Centrale Paris; MBA, INSEAD. Former member of the board of directors of the Cercle de Généalogie Juive. Creator of the BECANE civil registry database. Co-author of the book « Les protégés israélites du consulat de France à Tunis ».
Jérémy Guedj
President
Biography
PhD in history, lecturer (maître de conférences) in contemporary history at the University of Nice and at the IEP, member of the Centre de la Méditerranée moderne et contemporaine (CMMC), editor-in-chief of the Cahiers de la Méditerranée
Valérie Assan
Board member
Biography
Valérie Assan, PhD in history from the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, agrégée in classics and member of the GSRL, is a specialist in the history of the Jews in France and the Maghreb in the modern era.
Claude Nataf
Founding President
Biography
Top of his class at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (1967), postgraduate diploma (DEA) in twentieth-century history from the Fondation nationale des sciences politiques, vice-president of the Commission française des archives juives, founding president of the Society for the History of the Jews of Tunisia, departmental delegate of the French national education system
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