ASSOCIATION

Postum award to brutally murdered in 2006 at the age of 85, Haiti's first woman diplomat, former first lady and widow of Haiti's most revered president, Mr. Durmarsais Estime.  She is considered Haiti's own Eleanor Roosevelt, a feminist who opened the door of the National Palace to Haiti's peasants and who, like her husband, strongly advocated the social emancipation of dark-skinned Haitians in a society deeply divided by class and color at that time perod.  She is the first woman to have occupied the post of embassador former Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Representative of Haiti to the Benelux countries. ''She is an icon in Haitian history,''

 

Madame, Estimé was born in Port-au-Prince in 1920. reports contend that she was an extraordinary woman and a great humanitarian. She and Dumarsais Estimé had four children,one of whom Jean Robert Estimé, Haiti's former minister of foreign affairs.  A great philantropists which started with public works in the vicinities of Saint Anne, electrification projects in Ganthier, alphabetization works in Plaine Cul de Sac.  She created Haiti's first cantine  along with an endless archive of humanitarian works.

 

She published her memoirs about life as Haiti's first lady during the country's golden age.  In 1946, Dumarsais Estimé, who was dark-skinned, was elected Haiti's first black president. As a couple, the Estimés worked to open the doors of education and opportunity for Haiti's poor black masses and helped created the black middle class. But midway into his six-year term in 1950, Estimé was ousted by Haitian army general Paul Magloire.

 

The couple fled into exile, and Dumarsais Estimé died in New York in 1953.  She was Haiti's representative to Belgium, where she lived for almost 30 years before moving back to Haiti in 1984, according to reports ''She served with class and distinction,'' few Haitians alive today knew of Estimé and her contributions to Haitian society.

 

Unknown to most, thanks to President Estimé and his wife,'' they pave the roads which made it possible for lots of Haitians, dark-skinned, to travel abroad for scholarships to study and to have important functions. 

 

Websites:

http://www.alterpresse.org/spip.php?article4675#.UoycAcSbNCd

 

hhttp://www.haitianbookcentre.com/bookbag/browse.php?AuthorID=475

 

http://www.amazon.com/Dumarsais-Estime-Dialogue-souvenirs-Edition/dp/9993534110

 

 

 

 

For information, please contact:

Telephone: 202-681-0222
Email: info@lakouassociation.org

Mail: Lakou Association Leadership Gala Awards
2007 Osborn Drive
Silver Spring, MD 20910