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{{Short description|Tunisian politician (1963–2021)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Meherzia Labidi Maïza
| image = Meherzia Labidi Maiza.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1963|12|17|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Hammamet, Tunisia|Hammamet]], [[Tunisia]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|2021|1|22|1963|12|17|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Paris]], [[France]]
| other_names =
| known_for =
| education = [[University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle]]
| employer =
| occupation =
| term =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| party = [[Ennahda Movement]]
| boards =
| spouse =
| children = 3
| footnotes =
| nationality = Tunisian
}}

'''Meherzia Labidi Maïza''' ({{lang-ar|محرزية العبيدي معيزة}};17 December 1963 – 22 January 2021)<ref name=marsad/> was a Tunisian politician and professional translator and interpreter. She became the first deputy speaker of the [[Constituent Assembly of Tunisia]].

Maïza was the most senior elected woman in the Middle East.<ref name=newstate/> She was proud of helping to include a clause to protect [[Human rights in Tunisia#Women's rights|women's rights]] into Tunisia's post [[Arab Spring]] constitution.<ref name=huff/>

==Early life and education==
Meherzia Labidi was born on 17 December 1963<ref name=tlive/> in El Meziraâ in the town of [[Hammamet, Tunisia|Hammamet]] in [[Nabeul Governorate]] in North East Tunisia. She graduated from a mixed high school in the town of [[Grombalia]] in 1982 and then moved south to study at the [[Ecole Normale Superieure]] in the city of [[Sousse]].<ref name=frref2>{{Cite web|url=https://www.webdo.tn/2011/11/26/mehrezia-labidi-maiza-une-islamiste-liberale/|title=Mehrézia Labidi-Maïza : une islamiste libérale ?|language=fr|first=Abbes Ben|last=Mahjouba|work=Webdo.tn|date=26 November 2011|access-date=23 January 2021}}</ref>

Labidi-Maïza married in 1986 and went to France with her husband, who is a telecommunications engineer,<ref name=diaspora>{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.liberation.fr/societe/01012384489-diaspora-tunisienneun-face-a-femmes Isabelle Hanne, « Diaspora tunisienne. Un face à femmes », ''Libération'', 20 January 2012], Retrieved 8 December 2015</ref> to study in the {{Interlanguage link multi|École supérieure d'interprètes et de traducteurs|fr}} at the [[University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle]]. She earned a master's degree in economics and translation and a post-graduate degree in English literature and theatre studies in 1992.<ref name=aljez>[http://forum.aljazeera.net/speakers/meherzia-labidi-ma%C3%AFza Meherzia Labidi Maïza] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704072835/http://forum.aljazeera.net/speakers/meherzia-labidi-ma%C3%AFza |date=4 July 2017 }}, The 9th Al Jazeera Forum, Retrieved 8 December 2015</ref> She taught translation at the {{Interlanguage link multi|Institut européen des sciences humaines|fr|lt=European Institute of Human Sciences}} in [[Seine-Saint-Denis|St. Denis]].<ref name=aljez/>

==Career==
In 2004 Labidi-Maïza co-authored ''Abraham, réveille-toi, ils sont devenus fous!'' (Abraham, Wake Up. They Are Going Crazy) with Laurent Klein.<ref name=tlive/><ref name=abraham>{{cite book|last1=Labidi-Maïza|first1=Mehrézia|last2=Klein|first2=Laurent|title=Abraham, réveille-toi, ils sont devenus fous!|date=2004|publisher=Éditions de l'Atelier|location=Paris|isbn=978-2-7082-3769-8|language=French}}</ref> She gave lectures on education in multicultural societies, women, religion and society. From 2006, she was chair of the [[Global Women of Faith Network]].<ref name=aljez/>

In 2009, Labidi-Maïza was a member of the European Council of religious leaders. She came to international notice when she supported a more moderate position over wearing the [[niqab]]. This was during the French debates that aimed to restrict it being worn in France.<ref name=diaspora/> In 2015, she served as the honorary president of [[Religions for Peace]], a New York-based NGO recognized at the UN.<ref name=aljez/>

===Politics===
On 23 October 2011,<ref name=marsad/> Labidi-Maïza was elected to the Tunisian Constituent Assembly as a representative of the [[Ennahda Movement]] for Tunisians living abroad.<ref name=newstate/> She noted that she benefited from a clause that required every other candidate to be a woman.<ref name=huff/> On 22 November she became the First Deputy Speaker of the assembly after receiving 142 out of the 214 votes.<ref name=tlive>[http://www.tunisia-live.net/whoswho/whos-who-mehrezia-labidi-maiza/ Mehrezia Labidi-Maiza: The First Vice-President of the Assembly], Tunisia Live, Retrieved 7 December 2015</ref> In 2012 Labidi-Maïza was described as the "most senior elected woman in the Middle East".<ref name=newstate>[https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/politics/2012/04/ns-interview-mehrezia-labidi-tunisian-politician Mehdi Hasan talks to Tunisian politician Mehrezia Labidi on gender, democracy, and the Arab Spring], Mehdi Hasan, 18 April 2012, ''New Statesman'', Retrieved 8 December 2015</ref>

Labidi-Maïza organised the debates that gave birth to Tunisia's new constitution. She was proud of ensuring that women's rights were included in Article 45 of the constitution.<ref name=huff/> She was identified by the ''[[Huffington Post]]'' as one of eight women who "made the world a better place" in 2014. The post [[Arab Spring]] constitution contained clauses that her own supporters did not like but she said, "It's like giving birth: painful, but in the end everyone is happy when the child arrives".<ref name=huff>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/08/inspirational-women-2014_n_4919500.html 8 Women Who Already Made The World A Better Place In 2014], Charlotte Alfred,'' Huffington Post'', Retrieved 8 December 2015</ref>

Labidi-Maïza was a French and a Tunisian citizen, daughter of a father of eight children who told them that they must all graduate before they could consider marriage.<ref name=diaspora/> Her dual nationality was the subject of controversy to her critics.<ref name=frref2/><ref name=frref8>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessnews.com.tn/article,520,27803,1|title=Mehrezia Laâbidi : « Je suis originaire de Tunisie mais maintenant je suis une citoyenne française »|language=fr|work=Business News|date=23 November 2011|access-date=23 January 2021}}</ref> She was married and mother of two girls and a boy.<ref name=tlive/>

Labidi-Maïza was elected to the assembly of the representatives of the people in the [[2014 Tunisian parliamentary election|Tunisian parliamentary election]] in October 2014, this time in the second level district of [[Nabeul]] in north-east Tunisia.<ref name=marsad>{{Cite web |url=http://www.marsad.tn/fr/docs/51c83eb37ea2c47c3f367298 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906172955/http://www.marsad.tn/fr/docs/51c83eb37ea2c47c3f367298 |title=Déclaration sur l'honneur de la situation patrimoniale de la vice-présidente de l'ANC Meherzia Labidi |website=Marsad |date=11 June 2013 |archivedate=6 September 2013}}</ref> In 2015 she was still a member of the Tunisian government and led its committee for women, family, children and the elderly.<ref name=aljez/>

== Death ==
Labidi-Maïza was reported to have contracted COVID-19 in late 2020 and in mid-November moved to France to receive treatment. Her health deteriorated from early December and she died in early hours of 22 January 2021.<ref>{{cite news |title=Meherzia Laâbidi décédée après une longue lutte contre le Covid-19 |url=https://www.universnews.tn/a-la-une/meherzia-laabidi-decedee-apres-une-longue-lutte-contre-le-covid-19/ |access-date=22 January 2021 |work=Univers News |date=22 January 2021 |language=fr-FR}}</ref> The Tunisian Minister of Women's Affairs, [[Sihem Badi]] claimed that she had not been suffering from COVID-19.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-01-23|title=كانت بجانبها..سهام بادي تتحدّث عن الساعات الأخيرة لمحرزية العبيدي|url=https://www.tuniscope.com/ar/article/221763/arabe/actu-arabe/mahrzia-465716|access-date=2021-01-23|website=tuniscope.com|language=fr-FR}}</ref> Labidi-Maïza's body was repatriated to Tunisia on 23 January and was buried at Grombalia cemetery, [[Nabeul]] on 24 January.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tunisie : Meherzia Laabidi sera inhumée à Grombalia |url=https://directinfo.webmanagercenter.com/2021/01/22/tunisie-meherzia-laabidi-sera-inhumee-a-grombalia/ |access-date=24 January 2021 |work=Directinfo |language=fr-FR}}</ref>

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Labidi Maiza, Meherzia}}
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:Tunisian Muslims]]
[[Category:Ennahda politicians]]
[[Category:Tunisian non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of Tunisia]]
[[Category:People from Nabeul Governorate]]
[[Category:20th-century Tunisian women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Tunisian writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Tunisian women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Tunisian writers]]
[[Category:Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in France]]
[[Category:21st-century Tunisian women politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Tunisian politicians]]

Meherzia Labidi Maïza - Revision history

UpdateBot at 03:55, 26 April 2022