Mukhtar al-AYARI, A Radical Tunisian in the 1920s, and His Place in Labour History

Abstract:Mukhtar al-Ayari served in France as a soldier during and immediately after the first world war. On many occasions, he got into trouble with his officers and after returning to Tunisia boasted about his insubordination while in the ranks. As a committed leftist, he found work as a tramway employee. He quickly became one of the rare native leaders of the French labour union and the newly formed Communist Party. His oratorical abilities, indefatigable energy and intelligence attracted the attention of French leftists in Tunis and his independent spirit clashed with his superiors at the tramway company, who fired him after he had a dispute with a Jewish passenger. The French union thereafter employed him full-time as an organizer and scores of French police reports demonstrate that he attended most Communist Party and union meetings where he spoke frequently. When the Confédération Générale des Travailleurs Tunisiens (CGTT) formed at the end of 1924 al-Ayari became a major organizer and leader of the new group, along with the better-known M’hammad ‘Ali and Tahar Haddad. He and M’hammad ‘Ali were exiled from Tunisia on 26 November 1925, after which he worked on a Cairo trolley and died in Paris, never to return to his native land. Because he was a Communist he has received little attention from Tunisian professional historians of nationalist persuasion, who have mostly ignored his contributions. This paper explains his important role as a mass leader and places him in his rightful place in the forefront of early twentieth century Tunisian history.