Rue des Tanneurs occupies an important place in the history of the Jews of Tunis. During the nineteenth century, the modern city of Tunis developed between Bāb al-Baḥr and the lake. The Rue des Tanneurs was among the first to experience rapid development and the street was used as a souk, which specialised in leather tanning. After the arrival of the French in 1881 the city of Tunis expanded eastwards. The Rue des Tanneurs became part of the modern European City. Jews lived, worked and became politically active on the Rue des Tanneurs. The celebrated Tunisian Jewish singer, Raoul Journo, lived on the street. Offices and institutions that were central to religious Jewish life were on the Rue des Tanneurs. This included the Conseil de la Communauté Israélite, an elected body that was set up in 1921. The Conseil was, made up of 60 delegates, of whom 12 were councillors, oversaw religious and social issues of the day. The Rabbinical Court of Tunis, headed by the Chief Rabbi of Tunis, was at 14 Rue des Tanneurs and, among other issues, judged personal status cases, inheritance, and property disputes in accordance with Jewish law. In 1957, Bourguiba’s government abolished sharia and rabbinical courts, placing all citizens under secular jurisdiction. Docteur David Dario Scialom, known as the “doctor of the poor” or the “doctor of the Hara” had his medical practice at 8 Rue des Tanneurs. Dr Scialom was known to give medical consultation to the poor Jews of the Hara in the street and would often not charge clients. Dr Scialom was the medic to the Bey of Tunis and his court. In 1932 he was President of the Tunisian Society of Medical Science. The Jewish defence lawyer and member of the Tunis bar, Victor Sebag, also had his office at 8 Rue des Tanneurs. During the 1920s, Victor Sebag was vice-president of the Conseil de la Communauté Israélite. The locale of the Parti communiste tunisien was at 22 rue des Tanneurs. From the 1930s a large number of Jews became active in the PCT. Some, including Georges Adda, Georges Valensi and Paul Sebag, reached leadership positions.
