UIA School For Boys, 1 Rue Malta Sghira
The Alliance israélite universelle was founded in 1860 in Paris with the aim of fighting for Jewish rights throughout the world and defending Jews wherever they were persecuted. The Alliance set up a French-language educational network in the Middle East and North Africa, where Jewish children could receive a western education steeped in French language and culture. On the eve of the First World War, the Alliance had set up in these regions 183 schools with 43,700 students of both sexes.
The first Alliance Israélite Universelle boys’ school in Tunis opened outside of the Hara on Rue Malta Sghira in 1878. Its first director was David Cazès and it functioned until 1976. Cazès was a Moroccan writer and educator. Between 1878 and 1893 Cazès lived in Tunis where he served as the Alliance Israélite Universelle’s principal representative. An expert on the history of Tunisian Jewry, he was an Officer of the Order of Nichan Iftikhar.
Albert Memmi attended the Alliance Israélite Universelle school on the Rue Malta Sghira.
