Jérémie ( ht, Jeremi) is a commune and capital city of the Grand'Anse department in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...

. It had a population of about 31,000 at the 2003 census. It is relatively isolated from the rest of the country. The Grande-Anse River flows near the city. Jérémie is called ''the city of the poets'' because of the numerous writers, poets, and historians born there.

History

During 1762, French General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas was born here. He is mostly known for fighting under Napoleon in Italy and Egypt. In 1964, during the

Jérémie Vespers The term Jérémie Vespers refers to a massacre that took place in August, September and October 1964 in the Haitian town of Jérémie. It took place after a group of 13 young Haitians calling themselves " Jeune Haiti" landed on August 6, 1964 at ...

, the Haitian army and the ''

Tonton Macoutes The Tonton Macoute ( ht, Tonton Makout) or simply the Macoute was a special operations unit within the Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier. In 1970 the militia was renamed the ' (VSN, Voluntee ...

'' massacred 27 people in Jérémie. In the early 2000s, archaeologists uncovered an ancient synagogue of Crypto-Jews in the city, the only one found on the

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

. Jérémie has historically been inhabited by many

mixed-race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-eth ...

families of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent. In the aftermath of the 2010

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

, a food aid convoy transporting aid delivered to Jérémie Airport through Jérémie encountered a hijacking attempt by 20 men, on 30 January 2010. Medical supplies have also been airlifted through the airport, due to the increase in medical needs from injured refugees arriving in the wake of the quake. In October 2016, Jérémie was almost completely destroyed by

Hurricane Matthew Hurricane Matthew was an extremely powerful Atlantic hurricane which caused catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis in Haiti, as well as widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. The deadliest Atlantic hurricane since ...

as it went past Haiti. Roughly west of the city lies

Navassa Island Navassa Island (; ht, Lanavaz; french: l'île de la Navasse, sometimes ) is a small uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea. Located northeast of Jamaica, south of Cuba, and west of Jérémie on the Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti, it is subject ...

, which is claimed by Haiti and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Facilities

The city has an airport, Jérémie Airport. The area of the airport of Jérémie is known as "Numero Deux". Mission Aviation Fellowship conducts charter flights into the airport.

Locations in Jérémie

Beaudrouin, Campagne, Carrefour Sanon, Dayere, Duranton, La Forêt, Leopold, Lori, Marche Leon, Previle, Rampe des Lions and Sassierrrve

Notable natives and residents

* Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, a general of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...

, was born in Jérémie as the son of a French nobleman and his African slave, before independence. Dumas lived most of his life in France, where his father took him at age 18. He married and was the father of

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

, who became a noted and prolific author in the nineteenth century. *

Joseph Serge Miot Joseph Serge Miot (23 November 1946 – 12 January 2010) was a Haitian archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the ninth Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, serving from 2008 until his death as a result of the 12 January 2010 earthquake. ...

, was born there. He was the

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

of Port-au-Prince, and was killed in the

2010 Haiti earthquake A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's ca ...

. * Emile Roumer (1903–1988), a poet. * Modeste Testas (1765 - 1870), formerly enslaved Ethiopian woman, whose statues stands in Bordeaux commemorating the

transatlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...

. * Etzer Vilaire (1872–1951), a poet *

Elisabeth Dieudonné Vincent Elisabeth Dieudonné Vincent (1798-29 November 1883) was a Saint Dominicans, Saint Dominican Creole, businesswoman and international migrant. Born in 1798 in Saint-Domingue to an ''free people of color, affranchi'' and French father, she was Le ...

(1798-1883) free colored businesswoman

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeremie Communes of Haiti Gulf of Gonâve Historic Jewish communities in North America Jews and Judaism in Haiti Populated places in Grand'Anse (department) Port cities in the Caribbean Populated coastal places in Haiti