Latifa Lakhdar (born 1 February 1956) is a Tunisian historian and politician who was Minister of Culture from February 2015 until January 2016.
Lakhdar was born in Zarzis on 1 February 1956. She was a student of Mohamed Arkoun at the Sorbonne in Paris.[1]
Lakhdar was Professor of Contemporary History at University of Ez-Zitouna from 1991 to 1999 and from 2000 to 2015 at the University of Tunis.[2]
Lakhdar is an expert in Islamic thought[3][4] and has published several books in Arabic and French, notably on the condition of women in Islamic societies.[1][2] She is a women's rights activist and secularist.[5] She has argued that Islamic fundamentalism, including Islamic terrorism is part of Islamic orthodoxy, but that Islamic thought can be enlightened and liberal if it undergoes a "critical revolution".[1] She argues that "The jihadist idea that religion should rule politics is a model that never existed."[4]
Lakhdar is a founding member of the Association tunisienne des femmes démocrates. In 2011, she was elected vice-president of the Higher Authority for Realisation of the Objectives of the Revolution, Political Reform and Democratic Transition.[2][6]
On 6 February 2015, Lakhdar was appointed Minister of Culture and Heritage Preservation, as an independent, in the government of Prime Minister Habib Essid.[7] She was in communication with museum staff during the Bardo National Museum attack on 18 March 2015 and later unveiled a memorial at the site.[4]
On 12 February 2016, Lakhdar was made a Commander of the Order of the Republic by President Béji Caïd Essebsi for her service.[7]