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Trying to formulate a clear idea
about the history of archives in Tunisia is obviously hard. Available sources
are, indeed, rare. It is, nonetheless, possible to claim that the greatest
number of the successive political regimes which marked the history of this
country for more than two thousand years formed important archival fonds.
Unfortunately, however, we are not in reach of the major part of these fonds.
Frequent wars and political instability, especially prior to the advent of the
Husseynite Dynasty in 1705, were major causes in this sense.
The second half of the XIXth century was marked by the accomplishment of a whole
series of reforms which affected both the political organisation of the country
(the Fundamental Pact of 1857 and the Constitution of 1861), and the
administrative system of it (the determination of ministries’ missions and
organisation in 1860).
It is within this context that the Great Ministry “Prime Ministry” witnessed the
creation, in 1874, of a service whose main task was to look after records. Known
as the « Centre des correspondences de l’Etat » (State Correspondence Centre),
this service had, with the other “Great Ministry’s services”, Dar El Bey, as
headquarters. This service soon undertook the gathering of public records by
transferring them from the Bardo Palace and collecting them from various other
sources namely senior civil servants and statesmen.
The organisation of these records was carried out according to elaborate
technical methods. Such methods took into consideration the organisation and
communication of these records and their restitution. Directed by Cheikh Mohamed
Taib Boussin, this service benefited from the use of several valuable manpower
resources.
Hence, Tunisia, and compared to other Arab countries, was a precursor in this
field. It was the second country, after Egypt, to opt for the organisation of
its records, and this even before the establishment of the French Protectorate.
The situation turned into complexity during the Protectorate Period (1881-1956).
The Tunisian administration was maintained. However, its functions were
restricted to fields of action directly linked with the Tunisian population (regional
and local administration, justice, cult, habous “endowments”…).
Besides, it was subject to the supervision of a French senior official, «
Secrétaire général du gouvernement » (Secretary General of Government). This
period witnessed also the foundation of some technical directorates playing the
role of real state departments.
They were under the direct supervision of the « Resident general » ( High
Commissioner ), France’s representative in Tunisia, who jointly ran the affairs
of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Records generated by the activities of these two entities were organised
differently. As for the Tunisian administration, “Section d’Etat”, the
implemented system was much affected by the registries system used by the French
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (as a protectorate, Tunisia was among its mandates
). The records generated by the different services were grouped into series
following a classification system set in advance. Records offices were
established within the various structures of the Section d’Etat.
Their main task was the collection of current records and files. In 1883, and
from there on, the “Centre des correspondences de l’Etat” became known as « Les
Archives générales du gouvernement » (State General Archives) and turned into a
depository for the « Section d’Etat » records which lost administrative value
and importance.
This service was attached to the Secretary General of Government.
Several senior civil servants presided over this service, namely Chokri Ghanem,
Mohamed Karoui (1887-1923), Hassen Hosni Abdelwaheb, Tahar Lajmi, Larbi Ben
Abdallah, Ali Abdelwaheb, Mohamed Salah Mzali and Mohamed Laziz Lakhoua.
The National Archives presently undertakes the preservation of the major part of
these records. The records generated by the technical directorates were not
arranged in the same way, however. They were not transferred to the State
General Archives either. They
were kept at the directorates, which led to their loss except some.
As for the records collected by the services relevant to the French « Resident
general » in Tunisia, they were transferred to France (They belong to the French
Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Since 1983, Tunisia has actively proceeded to the
microfilming of these records.
With Tunisia’s political autonomy in 1955, services of « the Presidence du
Conseil » (Council’s Presidency) were reorganised (Decree of October 13, 1955),
and the General State Archives took the name of “Archives générales” (General/Central
Archives). In 1967, the Presidency State Secretariat underwent a whole
restructuring, and the archives administration became known as the « Division
des Archives générales et de la Documentation » (Division of General Archives
and Documentation). It had as a task the centralization and preservation of the
State’s general archives.
It soon undertook to establish a full list of the state’s records and to make
them accessible to researchers.
Administratively, a division is a body which ranks in the middle between a sub-directorate
and a service.
The establishment of the Prime Ministry and the organisation of its services,
following Decree n° 70-118 of April 11, 1970 caused the archives administration
to be renamed as
the “Department (Division) of General Archives”. It was in 1971, following the
reorganisation of the Prime Ministry’s services, that the archives
administration got promoted to the ranks of a sub-directorate keeping The same
denomination.
It was not possible for the newly-born Tunisian state to pursue the organisation
of its records using the State Section’s method. Archival activity and
processing began, then, to disappear from public administrations, and records
transfer came to a halt. The role of this institution was confined to the
communication of preserved records to the users.
Meanwhile, records accumulated within public services, which necessitated a deep
meditation about the question.
This ended in the establishment of the National Archives as a public institution
in accordance with the stipulations of Act n° 88-95 issued on 2 August 1988.
Under the tutelage of the Prime Ministry, the National Archives is a public
institution which, in addition to its administrative character, enjoys the
status of civil person and financial autonomy.
Since the beginning of 1999, the National Archives services were transferred
from the Prime Ministry to their new headquarters located at 122, Boulevard 9
avril 1938 in Tunis. |
