Habib Bourguiba the transgressive nature of many of Bourguiba's gestures, particularly in women's status. Furthermore, Jean Daniel mentioned a conversation between Bourguiba and Jacques Berque about Islam. For Bourguiba, religion, associated to the Destourian party, had historically favored the colonization of Tunisia. On the other hand, Charfi opposed this idea, stating that the undeniable break carried out by Bourguiba occurred more with traditional society than with Islam, as such. Bourguiba was very critical of the veil, on various occasions referring to it as "that odious rag". During the time Bourguiba was president, education was a high priority, as he reformed the total
Early life of Habib Bourguiba to his children's education. This was criticized by his brother Mohamed who reproached him for giving too much consideration to their instruction. But he succeeded in providing good education for his children with his military pension, which led to their ascent in important jobs. His first born child, Mohamed, worked in Tunis as a nurse in Sadiki Hospital. Ahmed and Mohamed worked in the state administration. When Bourguiba was born, his brother, Mahmoud, was pursuing his studies in Sadiki College. In that year, Ali became councilman of Monastir, a job that helped him provide a modern education to Bourguiba. In