Louis Achille Othello Bayard "de Cayes" (1885–1971) is 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 musician, violinist, poet, and composer. He is notable for composing the music of the patriotic song " Haïti Chérie".

Biography

Othello Bayard was born in 1885 in the city of

Les Cayes Les Cayes ( , ), often referred to as Aux Cayes (; ), is a commune and seaport in the Les Cayes Arrondissement, in the Sud department of Haiti, with a population of 71,236. Due to its isolation from the political turmoil of the capital, Port-a ...

. January 1, 1925, Bayard composed "Souvenir d’Haïti", a poem set to music and it will become the second Haitian patriotic hymn as " Haïti Chérie" after the national anthem, "

La Dessalinienne "" (; ) is the national anthem of Haiti. This march was written by Justin Lhérisson and composed by Nicolas Geffrard. Etymology "La Dessalinienne" is named in honor of Haiti's revolutionary leader and first ruler Jean-Jacques Dessalines. The ...

". He wrote his poem in

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; , ; , ), or simply Creole (), is a French-based creole languages, French-based creole language spoken by 10 to 12million people worldwide, and is one of the two official languages of Haiti (the other being French), where it ...

as some other Haitian poets at that time did, in resistance to some

Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

Haitian elite who collaborated with the American occupier who had just landed in Haiti in 1915 for a long occupation of the country until 1934. Creole allows this return to indigenous and African origins of the population whose ancestors were slaves.Haïti chérie-musique
/ref> At the beginning of 21st century, was opened a music school in Les Cayes which bears the name of this poet and musician, the Institut Othello Bayard des Cayes.

References

1885 births 1971 deaths Haitian musicians Haitian composers Haitian male poets 20th-century Haitian poets 20th-century Haitian male writers People from Les Cayes {{Haiti-musician-stub