Early life of Habib Bourguiba Abdelaziz Thâalbi from exile and the protests of April 5, 1922, which increased his nationalist aspirations. In 1924, he got his baccalaureate, as valedictorian and flew to Paris in order to pursue his Higher education. In the French capital city, he enrolled in the Law school of Sorbonne and spent his time discovering the colonial civilization to "arm himself intellectually" against it. There, he met Mathilde Lefras, a fourteen-year older widow, with whom he had a relationship. In 1927, when he obtained a law licence, Mathilde gave birth to their son, Habib Jean Bourguiba. When he returned to Tunisia, Bourguiba
Early life of Habib Bourguiba it is to him that I owe that". However, his start of secondary studies coincided with the beginning of World War I in September 1914 shortly followed with the school's financial problems, managed by a severe headmaster. Bourguiba stated that back in that time, food was terrible: They served them a stew with squash and a macaroni at lunch while giving them a donut wrapped in newspaper and smelling oil, at breakfast. These terrible conditions led the students to protest, despite the headmaster's efforts to end the revolt. When he questioned Bourguiba, the young Habib denounced these horrible conditions, declaring