Mohamed Bouazizi, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetMohamed Bouazizi
Tunisian street vendor
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Sidi Bouzid, Sidi Bouzid Governorate, Tunisia
About Mohamed Bouazizi
- Tarek el-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi (Arabic: ???? ????? ???? ??????????; 29 March 1984 – 4 January 2011) was a Tunisian street vendor who set himself on fire on 17 December 2010, which became a catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution and the wider Arab Spring against autocratic regimes.
- His self-immolation was in response to the confiscation of his wares and the harassment and humiliation inflicted on him by a municipal official and her aides. Simmering public anger and sporadic violence intensified following Bouazizi's death, leading the then-president of Tunisia, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to step down on 14 January 2011, after 23 years in power.
- The success of the Tunisian protests inspired protests in several other Arab countries, plus several non-Arab countries.
- The protests included several men who emulated Bouazizi's act of self-immolation, in an attempt to bring an end to their own autocratic governments.
- Those men and Bouazizi were hailed by Arab commentators as "heroic martyrs of a new Middle Eastern revolution".In 2011, Bouazizi was posthumously awarded the Sakharov Prize jointly along with four others for his and their contributions to "historic changes in the Arab world".
- The Tunisian government honored him with a postage stamp.
- The Times of the United Kingdom named Bouazizi as "Person of 2011", The Jerusalem Post's Amotz Asa-El named him "Person of the Jewish Year 5771" and "The Protester" was named Time 2011 Person of the Year.
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