Moufida Bourguiba Moufida Bourguiba Moufida Bourguiba (مفيدة بورقيبة), (born Mathilde Lorrain) (24 January 1890 in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés France – 15 November 1976 in Monastir). She was the first wife of the President of Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba, and the First Lady of Tunisia from 1957 to 1961. She died on 15 November 1976 at the age of 86. Mathilde Lorrain was born in France in 1890 in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, Val-de-Marne. She married a French officer, Colonel le Fras who was killed at the very end of the First World War on 11 November 1918. She met Habib Bourguiba in 1925 whilst he was studying law
Habib Bourguiba Mathilde obtained Tunisian citizenship, converted to Islam and adopted the name of Moufida. On 21 July 1961, they ended up divorcing. On 12 April 1962, Bourguiba married Wassila Ben Ammar, a woman from a family of Tunis bourgeoisie he had known for 18 years. Together, they adopted a girl named Hajer. Wassila took a larger part in politics over the deteriorating health of her husband, which would give her the title of "Majda" (Venerable). Their divorce, on 11 August 1986, with a mere statement and without any respected legal proceedings, largely contributed in the fall of the regime. Habib Bourguiba