Le Petit Matin (Newspaper)
Le Petit Matin was a French language daily newspaper founded by Simon Zana, which had a very long existence in Tunisia (it was in circulation between 1923 and 1967. Le Petit Matin competed with La Dépêche tunisienne as the main French language newspaper in the Regency. Simon Zana, an illiterate Jewish businessman from Sousse who was close to Habib Bourguiba, set up Le Petit Matin to serve the interests of the Tunisian people. He believed that La Dépêche tunisienne, was simply a mouthpiece of the French Residence. Le Petit Matin had a large Jewish readership. During the Second World War, the Vichy regime ordered the that Le Petit Matin use the subtitle, ‘Journal israélite de Tunisie’. Le Petit Matin’s policies were closely aligned with Tunisian nationalism. After the war, André Barouch took over as director of Le Petit Matin. Barouch was a well-known figure in both the Jewish community and the Neo-Destour nationalist movement. He was once banished from Tunis for his nationalist activities. Barouch became minister of Urbanism and Housing in the first Bourguiba government.
