Adélina Lévêque, the last empress of Haiti, passed away 148 years ago

A descendant of Dessalines

The daughter of Dérival Lévêque, Duke of Plaisance, and Marie Françoise Célimène Dessalines, she was the granddaughter of Emperor Jean-Jacques Dessalines. Long the partner of General Faustin Soulouque, she married him on December 31, 1847. The couple had 3 daughters: Geneviève Olive, Marie-Suzanne Olivette, and Célestine Marie Françoise.

The time of the empire

On August 26, 1849, her husband was proclaimed emperor under the name Faustin I, and she received the title of empress. Both were crowned in Port-au-Prince on April 18, 1852, during a lavish ceremony inspired by the coronation of Napoleon I. Her family was ennobled: her sister Clélia Lévêque became a princess, and her father a prince and count. Adélina had her own court, with 56 ladies of the palace and 22 ladies of the chapel, and held audiences every Tuesday.

Exile and return

In 1858, General Fabre Geffrard led a revolution against the empire. Faustin I abdicated on January 15, 1859 and went into exile on January 22 aboard a British warship. The family lived for several years in Kingston, Jamaica, then settled in Paris in 1866. Faustin died in Petit-Goâve on August 6, 1867. Adélina, placed under the protection of the government of Nissage Saget, ended her days in Port-au-Prince.