The Israélite Hospital of Tunis

It was under the Aghlabite dynasty, during the ninth and tenth centuries, that medical education appeared in Tunisia. The most famous physician was Isaac ben Solomon Israeli, a physician at Kairouan, who became doctor to al-Mahdi, founder of the Fatimid dynasty in North Africa. The Hôpital Israélite de Tunis opened in 1893 on the Place de Halfaouine, in a palace previously owned by Tunisian Prime Minister, Mustapha Khaznadar. At first it contained only forty beds and it was staffed by five physicians. A maternity ward was established in 1910. In 1928 the Hôpital Israélite de Tunis was converted into a civilian hospital. Following the closure, the “Society” of the Hôpital Israélite de Tunis founded the Préventorium de l’Ariana, the “centre Dr I. E. Hayat”. It was later transformed into a school. Since the mid-1980s, it has housed the Tunisian National Theater.