Queen Marie Louise Coidavid

Queen Marie Louise Coidavid (1778 – 11 March 1851) was the Queen of the Kingdom of Haiti from 1811 to 1820 as the spouse of Henri Christophe.

Marie-Louise was born into a free black family; her father was the owner of Hotel de la Couronne in Cap-Haïtien. Henri Christophe was a slave purchased by her father. Supposedly, he earned enough money in tips from his duties at the hotel that he was able to purchase his freedom before the Haitian Revolution.

They married in Cap-Français, today’s Cap-Haïtien, in 1793, having had a relationship with him from the year prior. They had four children: François Ferdinand (1794–1805), Françoise-Améthyste (d. 1831), Athénaïre (d. 1839) and Jacques-Victor Henry (1804–1820).

In 1811, Marie-Louise was given the title of queen upon the creation of the Kingdom of Haiti. Her new status gave her ceremonial tasks to perform, ladies-in-waiting, a secretary, and her court. She took her position seriously and stated that the title "given to her by the nation" also gave her responsibilities and duties to perform.