Mohamed Harmel

Mohamed Harmel
First secretary of the Ettajdid Movement
In office 23 April 1993 – 30 July 2007
Preceded by	(post newly created)
Succeeded by	Ahmed Brahim
First secretary of the Tunisian Communist Party
In office February 1981 – 23 April 1993
Preceded by	Mohamed Nafaâ
Succeeded by	(post abolished)
Personal details
Born	November 1929 Tunis
Died	18 September 2011 Tunis
Spouse(s)	y
Children	y

Mohamed Harmel (محمد حرمل) (November 1929 – 18 September 2011) was a Tunisian politician.

Between 1981 and 1993 he served as First Secretary of the Tunisian Communist Party, and in 2007 he became an honorary president of the Ettajdid Movement. He was a member of the country's Chamber of Advisors (Upper legislative assembly) from 2008 till its dissolution in March 2011.

Born into an artisan "chaouchi" Tunis family, Harmel studied at the city's Sadiki College. During this period he engaged politically with the Tunisian Communist Party, and distributed leaflets in support of Tunisian independence.

He was arrested in September 1949 following a street demonstration organised by the "Tunisian Committee for Liberty and Peace", and held for several months in the (non-military) prison in Tunis. In May 1951, at the fourth party congress of the Communist Party, he was elected a member of the Party Central Committee.

Following a study period at a teacher training college, in 1951 he embarked on a teaching career at Djebel Abiod (as it was then known) and in other towns. He pursued his teaching career when possible till 1956, but the years were not entirely without incident for him in other respects. He was arrested in February 1952 at Béja during a demonstration against the deportation of Nationalist and Communist leaders, and sent to the detention camp at Téboursouk. Released in 1953, he took charge in 1954 of the journal "Sawt el Oumma" ("Voice of the nation"), and then found himself back in prison after inciting dock workers to boycott a French ship transporting military equipment. This time he was released only when the French president, Pierre Mendès France visited Tunisia on 31 July 1954, as part of what turned out to be the buildup to a peaceful transition to Tunisian independence less than two years later. Recalling these experiences much later in his life, Hamel explained that he had been "processed through the military court" and "could have been given a death sentence", adding that "the mood often became heated between Destorian and Communists during [their] imprisonment at Téboursouk, and later, each time they encountered each other while leafleting in the streets.

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