Early life of Habib Bourguiba married Moufida and searched for a job as a lawyer, to provide the needs of family. He quickly started a journalistic career in order to defend the Tunisian personality. Bourguiba's paternal family originated from the Ottoman Empire nobility. In Albanian, Bourguiba meant "prisoner". The family lived in Istanbul before leaving the city for the Sirte coast in Libya. In 1795, the great-grandfather of Habib Bourguiba, Hadj Mohamed Bourguiba Al Kebir, left Tripolitania to settle in Tunisia, because of the eruption of troubles between Libya and the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, he moved to Monastir, in the "Tripolitanian quarter" with his family,
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