Marie-Claire Heureuse Félicitée Bonheur, Empress

Marie-Claire Heureuse Félicité was born in Léogâne on February 3, 1758, into a poor but free family. She received her education from her aunt, who was the governess of a religious order. After marrying, she became a widow in 1795 without having any children.

During the siege of Jacmel in 1800, which took place during the Civil War known as La Guerre des Couteaux (the War of Knives), Marie-Claire gained recognition for her humanitarian efforts on behalf of the wounded and starving residents of the city. She convinced Jean-Jacques Dessalines, one of the besiegers under General Toussaint Louverture, to allow some roads to be opened so that aid could reach those in need. She organized a caravan that provided food, clothing, and medicine to non-combatant citizens and even cooked meals for them in the streets.

During her interactions with Dessalines, they developed a romantic relationship and shortly thereafter got married.

Marie-Claire was described as kind, merciful, and genuine, with both elegant and warm manners. Unlike her husband, Dessalines, she demonstrated kindness toward people of all colors and legitimized his seven illegitimate children. She strongly opposed her husband's policies toward the white French residents of Haiti and worked to meet the needs of those imprisoned. She did not hesitate to save many of them, even at the risk of her husband's wrath, who had planned to massacre them. It is said that she fell to her knees to plead with him to spare their lives and went so far as to hide and protect several of them.

On Independence Day, she created the traditional meal of “soup joumou” or pumpkin soup, which was consumed by Haitians for the first time on January 1, 1804, and remains a tradition to this day.

After Haiti's independence, Jean-Jacques Dessalines was named Emperor of Ayiti, and she was made Empress in 1804. Marie-Claire was respected for her strength and was referred to as “poto-mitan,” meaning the center pole, and recognized as the first Haitian nurse.

Marie-Claire Heureuse Félicité Dessalines passed away in Gonaïves on August 9, 1858, at the age of one hundred.