Demographic Evolution and Behavior of the Jews of Tunisia under the French Protectorate (1881-1956)

by Jacques TAIEB

article published in Population, 37th year, no. 4-5, 1982 pp. 952-958.

The objective of this note is to assess, as far as possible, the demographic evolution and behavior of this population. The study of demographic structures, such as age distribution or regional breakdown, could have been conducted given our available documentation; but that would exceed the limited scope we have set for ourselves.

From 1881, the date of the establishment of the protectorate, until 1921, no true census of the indigenous population was attempted. Then, from 1921 to 1956 (Independence of Tunisia), six general censuses followed one another, in 1921, 1926, 1931, 1936, 1956. Until 1936, the results were extremely rough. They merely provided, for each ethnic group (1), the total number of individuals and their regional distribution. It was not until 1946 that more detailed structures by age and sex appeared. Before continuing, we should question the reliability of these statistics. In fact, they can only be accepted as an order of magnitude. The 1941 census, quite exceptional since it was linked to the status of Jews, counted a Jewish population larger than the results of 1936 and 1946 would have suggested. It was preceded by threats against those who refused to comply and therefore seems unlikely to underestimate reality, unlike the others.

I — Demographic Evolution of the Population (1881-1956)

It is difficult to evaluate the number of Jews in Tunisia on the eve of the protectorate. An article published in the columns of this journal (2) estimated them at slightly more than 23,000, around 1860, or about 2% of the Tunisian population. This estimate seems to err on the low side, as the population of certain centers appears greatly underestimated. Moreover, many towns where Jewish communities lived are not listed. We would personally lean toward a total between 25,000 and 30,000 individuals around 1860 and somewhat fewer than 25,000 in 1881, after the cholera epidemics of 1867-1869 had caused their numbers to decline.

These statistics, as we have just seen, practically concern only Tunisian subjects and assimilated persons; however, there were French and foreign Israelites counted with the European population, for whom we have very little data. In 1921, there were probably a few thousand French and Italians.

The former were primarily descendants of Algerian immigrants who had come to Tunisia after the anti-Jewish agitation of 1898. The latter were Jews known as Livornese who had been settled for many generations in Tunisia, full Italian citizens, unlike the few Libyans who were merely Italian protégés. By amalgamating these European nationals with Tunisian subjects and taking into account the probable gaps in the census, one could estimate the total Jewish population of the country at 53,000 or 54,000 souls.

In 1926, the number of French Israelites increased significantly, following the law of 1923 which facilitated French naturalization of Tunisian subjects, whereas conditions from 1881 to 1922 had been most restrictive. (165 naturalizations of Tunisian Israelites during those 40 years). From 1922 to 1925, there were 1,282 naturalizations of Tunisian Israelites who swelled the ranks of French Israelites (3). Reasoning in the same manner as in 1921, one would arrive at slightly more than 60,000 persons for the entire country.

For 1931, we have less fragmentary estimates concerning French and foreign Jews. The former numbered approximately 7,000 after being reinforced by 3,742 naturalizations of Tunisian Israelites from 1926 to 1930, and the latter 3,000 (4). One could therefore estimate the number of Jews living in Tunisia at more than 70,000.

The proportion of non-Tunisians continued to grow from 1931 to 1936. There were another 1,312 naturalizations from 1931 to 1935. Moreover, many Jews from the département of Constantine immigrated to Tunisia after the antisemitic events of 1934, swelling the number of French Jews. Based on the later figures from the 1941 census, one can estimate the total number of French and foreign Jews at at least 16,000; which would give, all nationalities combined, nearly 80,000 persons.

In mid-1941 (5), the census ordered by the Vichy authorities gave some 89,700 persons, of whom 16,496 were French, 3,208 Italian, 668 British, 1,030 other foreigners, and 68,268 Tunisian Israelites. This last figure clearly shows that the 1936 census underestimated the number of Israelites of Tunisian nationality, since the natural increase from 1936 to mid-1941 did not exceed 4,300 or 4,400. From this perspective, the Tunisians should have numbered approximately 63,000. The discrepancy is significant and can only be explained by the uncertainties of the 1936 census and, to a lesser extent, by gaps in civil registration records.

We fall back into relative uncertainty with the 1946 census. The total for Tunisians is again underestimated; the excess of births over deaths from mid-1941 to the end of 1946 was approximately 4,500. It was hardly affected by French naturalizations, which became rare—260 cases from 1936 to 1946. Israelites of Tunisian nationality should have numbered approximately 73,000, more if undeclared births are taken into account. We will therefore estimate the total at nearly 100,000 persons in 1946 and almost 105,000 at the end of the 1940s, on the eve of the first departures to Israel.

In 1956, the total number of Tunisian nationals shows a clear decline, as no doubt does that of other Israelites. Emigration to Israel and France, following the creation of the Jewish state and the unrest affecting the country, began to drain certain communities of their substance. Organized a few weeks before the country's independence (20 March 1956), the census was conducted under delicate conditions with no doubt many omissions. The total Jewish population of the country, regardless of nationality, can be estimated at nearly 80,000 souls. A conflictual decolonization, economic difficulties, and political problems arising from the looting of Jewish shops during the Six-Day War (1967) would accelerate departures. There were 55,000 Jews in 1961, 35,000 in 1964, 25,000 in 1967, and fewer than 7,000 currently (6).

II — Demographic Behavior (1881-1956)

We have seen that from 1881 to 1921, the population more than doubled. It would double again in an even shorter period from 1921 to the end of the 1940s.

Growth in the first period appears, on an average annual basis, to be close to 20‰ and near 23‰-24‰ in the second period. These figures are rough; to substantiate them, one would need to examine civil registration statistics in detail. Unfortunately, in this area, the gaps are considerable. Declarations of births and deaths were indeed made compulsory in 1908, but in practice many births were not registered, and this phenomenon, more or less attenuated, persisted until 1956, especially in the under-administered regions of the interior and the South. The same remarks apply to deaths (7); it should be noted, however, that after 1921, at least in the large cities, communal authorities required an official document before burial.

Statistical series do not really begin until 1911, making the study of the period before 1921 difficult. The total number of births rose from approximately 1,500 in 1911 to nearly 2,000 in 1921; that of deaths from 700-800 in 1912-13 to more than a thousand in 1919-21. This would give, for the decade 1911-21, birth rates close to 40‰ and death rates above 20‰ (8). (Probably 45‰ and 23‰-24‰ taking into account the gaps in civil registration). These coefficients, valid for Israelites of Tunisian nationality, can be extended to the entire Jewish population, since at the time French and foreign Israelites were few in number.

From 1921 to 1939, births among Tunisian Israelites stagnated slightly below 2,000, while deaths leveled off at approximately 1,000.

The Tunisian statistics service, based on these figures, estimated the rates as follows (Table 2):

These figures should probably be revised upward in all three cases. The rates of natural increase probably exceeded 16-17‰ throughout the entire period. They would not be fundamentally altered even by integrating non-Tunisian Jews with Tunisian ones. The former, indeed, remained clearly in the minority. Moreover, for obvious cultural and social reasons, their birth and death rates could not have been lower than those of the European population as a whole for the period in question—that is, a birth rate close to 30‰ and a death rate of approximately 15‰, meaning coefficients comparable to those of Tunisian nationals.

The striking fact compared to the pre-war period is the emergence of a certain degree of birth control; birth rates falling from 45‰ before 1914 to slightly above 30‰ in 1934-38. This controlled fertility primarily concerned the Westernized middle classes of the large cities and was tempered by the recognized necessity of having at least one male heir, for religious and prestige reasons, in a milieu still quite Arabized.

The second phenomenon is the progressive decline in mortality, a sign of improved medical and sanitary conditions, which had begun even before the Great War. Here too, the middle classes were the first to benefit from this improvement.

The years of the Second World War opened a period rich in upheavals. Births among Tunisians continued to stagnate at around 2,000 per year, while deaths approached 1,400 in 1941-42 and reached 2,575 in 1943 (the year of the German occupation) (9). Then from 1944 and until 1948, births jumped to 2,800 per year while deaths, which still exceeded 1,500 in 1944, gradually fell to less than 1,000 in 1948.

This resurgence is reflected in the rates; taking into account the gaps in civil registration, one may assume that the birth rate, between 31‰ and 34‰ in 1940-43, jumped to more than 40‰ after that date and through the end of the 1940s. The death rate fell during the same period from 25‰ to 16‰-17‰. The phenomenon is not inexplicable in itself; the years following the German occupation saw, along with a certain improvement in food and medical conditions, a more optimistic outlook on life. What is curious, however, is the long duration of this renewed vitality, which seems to go well beyond a simple catching-up effect. After 1950, even though many young people, indigents, and fervent believers—in short, the most prolific elements—had already left the country, the tendency toward high fertility persisted.

In 1953, a year of very low emigration with, consequently, a relatively stable population, one can engage in some statistical exercises. There were 2,040 births and 679 deaths recorded for a Tunisian population of approximately 70,000 souls. Hence, with some adjustments for deficiencies in civil registration, a birth rate close to 32‰-33‰ and a death rate close to 10‰ following the widespread availability of antibiotics. The coefficients for the following years are not significantly lower (10). Then, from 1960 onward, the figures are lacking.

These facts appear to indicate a rise in fertility even among the more or less Malthusian Westernized elements. But to what can this be attributed? Let us note, however, that this recovery in fertility seems to be part of a broader movement affecting populations of the Western world after 1945. Could the European model have also played a role in this area? Among the poor, who were already non-Malthusian, the probable rise in fertility may be correlated with the efforts of Jewish organizations in the aftermath of the war regarding medical supervision—with the consequence of a decline in stillbirths, pregnancy complications, and presumably sterility.

Conclusion

The most characteristic phenomena of the French period appear to lie in a revolutionary demographic growth. In 75 years, the Jewish population more than quadrupled, rising from about 2% of the country's total population around 1860-80 to more than 3% around 1945-50. It remains that the annual growth rates we have estimated at more than 20‰ from 1881 to 1946 appear slightly higher than what a detailed examination of these same rates shows. One must therefore probably acknowledge the existence of a slightly but significantly positive migration balance. This is moreover confirmed by public rumor.

The phase 1881-1921 was one of high fertility while mortality declined and epidemics became less frequent. After 1921, a moderate form of socially selective Malthusianism appeared, but as mortality continued to decrease, population growth remained as strong as in the past. This was a transitional situation, which should ultimately have led to a leveling off of mortality and a drop in fertility as the process of Westernization progressed. The trend reversal after 1943 muddied the waters, and the exodus of the community from 1949-50 onward put an end to the subject of our study without our having been able to fully reconcile the post-war demographic situation with our usual socio-cultural frameworks.

Source:
Taïeb Jacques. Evolution et comportement démographiques des Juifs de Tunisie sous le protectorat français (1881-1956).
In: Population, 37th year, no. 4-5, 1982 pp. 952-958.
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/pop_0032-4663_1982_num_37_4_17399

1. History of modern Tunisia, Jean-François MARTIN
2. The emigration of French in Tunisia, Maurice WOLKOWITSCH
3. Les Italiens en Tunisie, de Henri DE MONTETY
4. Le recensement de 1906 en Algérie et en Tunisie, de Augustin BERNARD
5. Les données du problème tunisien, de Henri DE MONTETY
6. Demographic evolution and behavior of the Jews of Tunisia under the French protectorate (1881-1956), by Jacques TAIEB
7. Juifs du Maghreb : onomastique et langue, une composante berbère ?, de Jacques TAIEB
8. De mémoire maltaise, de Hatem BOURIAL