Lucienne Heurtelou (1920 – May 19, 2006) was a

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 diplomat, women's rights advocate, and author. She was the First Lady of Haiti from 1946 to 1950 as the wife of Haitian President

Dumarsais Estimé Dumarsais Estimé (April 21, 1900 – July 20, 1953) was a Haiti, Haitian politician and President of the Haitian Republic from August 16, 1946, to May 10, 1950. Previously, he was a member of the Parliament for Verrettes for 16 years, as we ...

Early life

Heurtelou was born in Port-au-Prince in 1920 to a light-skinned family. She was working as a physical education teacher when she married

at age 19.

Career

In October 1948, Heurtelou inaugurated an orphanage in Truittier, near

Carrefour Carrefour Group, S.A. (, ), is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, Essonne, Massy, France. It operates a chain of hypermarkets, grocery stores and convenience stores. By 2024, the group had 14,000 ...

, which was never completed. She was honorary President of the Ligue Féminine d'Action Sociale, a Haitian feminist organization created in 1934, during its First Congress of Haitian Women (April 14–19, 1950). The Congress attracted delegates from 44 Haitian women's organizations and 32 delegates from 17 international women's organizations, and relaunched the Haitian women's movement for equal rights. Later that year, she and her husband were forced to flee the country following the

general elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

and the election of Haitian army general

Paul Magloire Paul Eugène Magloire (; July 19, 1907 – July 12, 2001), nicknamed Kanson Fè (Iron Pants), was the Haitian president from 1950 to 1956. Early life Paul Eugène Magloire ne Paul Vincent Magloire, 30th president of Haiti and 33rd head of state ...

. Estimé died in 1953, and Heurtelou brought his body back to Haiti for burial. In 1959, Heurtelou became ambassador to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, making her Haiti's first female ambassador. She lived in Belgium for nearly 30 years, serving as ambassador until 1971, before returning to Haiti in 1984. She is the first Haitian First Lady to have written her memoirs, a book in which she delves into the undoing of her husband's presidency by his political enemies. She published her memoirs in 2001.

Personal life

She was the mother of four children, including former Haitian government official Jean-Robert Estimé. She had five grandchildren. In her later years, Hertelou lived in a retirement home in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

. She died on May 19, 2006, at age 85, after being shot during a jewelry store robbery in the capital. Her remains were housed at the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

building in Port-au-Prince.

References

2006 deaths First ladies and gentlemen of Haiti Ambassadors of Haiti to Belgium Haitian women diplomats Year of birth uncertain 1920s births Haitian women ambassadors 20th-century diplomats Deaths by firearm in Haiti 20th-century Haitian women writers 20th-century Haitian writers {{Haiti-diplomat-stub