Italian Haitians (; ; ) are

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

an-born citizens who are fully or partially of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

descent, whose ancestors were

Italians Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...

who emigrated to Haiti during the

Italian diaspora The Italian diaspora (, ) is the large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy. There were two major Italian diasporas in Italian history. The first diaspora began around 1880, two decades after the Risorgimento, Unification of Italy, and ended ...

, or Italian-born people in Haiti.

History

Italian explorer

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

explored the Haiti region. The Italian presence in Haiti dates to the era of the French colony of

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colonization of the Americas, French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the isl ...

. During colonial times only a few Italians went to Haiti: most of them were

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

missionaries, with a few merchants and soldiers. The business sector of Haiti was dominated by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and Italian immigrants in the mid-19th century. In 1908 there were 160 Italians residing in Haiti, according to the Italian consul De Matteis, of whom 128 lived in the capital Port-au-Prince. During the 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince, the first Italian recorded dead was 70-year-old Gigliola Martino, who was born in Haiti to Italian parents who emigrated to the country in the early 20th century.

Daphnée Duplaix Daphnée Lynn Duplaix (born August 18, 1976) is an American actress and model. After beginning her career as an actress in 1996, Duplaix appeared as the July 1997 centerfold as ''Playboy''s Playmate of the Month. In addition to appearing in sev ...

, an American actress and model born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, is of

an and

descent. Stella Jean is a fashion designer in Italy whose mother is Haitian and her father is Italian. In 2011, according to the Italian census, there were 134 Italians who were residents in Haiti, nearly all of them living in the capital. However, there were nearly 5,000 Haitians with recent or distant Italian roots (according to the Italian embassy).

Notable Italian Haitians

Sherif Abdallah Sherif Abdallah (born 18 August 1958) is an Egyptian businessman and entrepreneur. Born in Cairo to an Egyptian father and an Italian mother, Abdallah emigrated to Haiti in 1981. He founded an insurance company Les Assurances Léger S.A., a hel ...

, insurance businessman and a close associate of former Haitian President

Jovenel Moïse Jovenel Moïse (; ; 26 June 1968 – 7 July 2021) was a Haitian politician and Businessperson, businessman who served as President of Haiti from 2017 until Assassination of Jovenel Moïse, his assassination in 2021. Moïse assumed the preside ...

. * Regine Chevallier, fashion designer *

, actress and model * Lindsay Zullo, footballer

References

Links

Hossary, Nagia
(Archive article)

Bibliography

* Commissariato dellemigrazione. ''Emigrazione e colonie, Volume 3: Raccolta di rapporti dei RR. agenti diplomatici e consolari''.Tipografia nazionale di G. Bertero & comp. Roma, 1908 {{Italian diaspora Ethnic groups in Haiti European diaspora in Haiti

History

Notable Italian Haitians

See also

References

Links

Bibliography