There is uncertainty over Bourguiba's birth year. Certain families were careful not to declare a boy's early birth date in order to avoid conscription according to Samya El Mechat [fr], La Tunisie et les chemins vers l'indépendance. 1945–1956, éd. L'Harmattan, Paris, 1992. He might have been in fact born in 1901 or even in 1898. Bourguiba himself said in 1955: "I was born in 1901. But when I applied to law school in Paris in 1924, the secretary made a mistake and marked 1903. Since I was not a very young student, I was satisfied with this date and I kept it". One of his ministers, Mahmoud El Materi, confirmed this hypothesis in a memoir.
Nicolas Beau[in French]; Jean-Pierre Tuquoi (4 February 2011). Notre ami Ben Ali : L'envers du "miracle tunisien". Editions La Découverte. ISBN978-2-707-15404-0.
