Tewhida Ben Sheikh


Tewhida Ben Sheikh was the first modern Tunisian and North African woman to become a physician. She was also a pioneer in women's medicine, in particular contraception and abortion access.

Early years

Tewhida Ben Sheikh was born in Tunis, Tunisia. Her early education was at Tunisia's first public school for Muslim girls,, 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. She travelled to the School of Medicine, to pursue her education, earning a degree in medicine in 1936. Upon her return to Tunis, she was given a dinner in her honour by local doctors.
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, persuaded Ben Sheikh's mother that she showed significant promise.

Civil society engagement

She served as the vice-president of the Tunisian Red Crescent.
She was active in the Tunisian independence movement until independence from France in 1953.
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 جمعية الاسعاف الاجتماعي, the Orphanage Welcome, and Women's Welcome. 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.

Legacy

At the initiative of the mayor of Montreuil, Dominique Voynet, a Tawhida-Ben Cheïkh health center was established in March 2011.
A stamp featuring her likeness was issued in 2012 by the Tunisian Post.
In March 2020, Dr. Ben Cheikh featured on the new 10-dinar banknote issued by the Central Bank of Tunisia.
On 27 March 2021, Google celebrated her with a Google Doodle.
On November 25, 2022, the municipality of Ras Jebel, in the Bizerte Governorate, unveiled a bust of Tawhida Ben Cheikh.