Pompée Valentin Vastey (; 1781Vastey stated that he was born in 1781 in Ennery, Haiti in a letter that he wrote to the celebrated British abolitionist Thomas Clarkson dated from Sans Souci, November 29, 1819. See Griggs 179.–1820), or Pompée Valentin, Baron de Vastey, 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 writer, educator, and politician. Vastey was what people at the time called a "

mulatto ( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...

," because he was born to a white French father and a black Haitian mother. He served as secretary to King

Henri Christophe Henri Christophe (; 6 October 1767 – 8 October 1820) was a key leader in the Haitian Revolution and the only monarch of the Kingdom of Haiti. Born in the British West Indies, British Caribbean, Christophe was possibly of Senegambian descent ...

and tutor to Christophe's son,

Victor Henri Victor Henri (6 June 1872 – 21 June 1940) was a French-Russian Physical chemistry, physical chemist and physiologist. He was born in Marseilles as a son of Russian parents. He is known mainly as an early pioneer in enzyme kinetics. He publishe ...

. Vastey also claimed to have fought in Toussaint's army and is said to have been the second cousin of the French novelist and playwright

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

(Daut 56; see also, Griggs 181). Vastey is best known for his essays on the history and contemporary circumstances of Haiti.

Biography

Jean-Louis Vastey was born in 1781 in Ennery in 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 ...

. In 1777, his father, Jean-Valentin Vastey, originally from

Jumièges Jumièges () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. Geography A forestry and farming village situated in a meander of the river Seine, some west of Rouen, at the junction of the D 65 and t ...

, in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, had married Élisabeth Dumas. Some historians give her as the sister of

Marie-Cessette Dumas Marie-Cessette Dumas was a female slave in the French colony of Saint Domingue. She was the mother of General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, the grandmother of novelist Alexandre Dumas, and the great-grandmother of playwright Alexandre Dumas, fils, and ha ...

, mother of General Thomas Alexandre Dumas and grandmother of the writer

, a hypothesis refuted by her biographer who, moreover, demonstrates that Vastey never bore the first name of Pompey-Valentin but that of Jean-Louis. In 1804, the year of Haiti's self-proclaimed independence, Jean-Louis Vastey was head of office for the Minister of Finance, André Vernet, under the government of

Jean-Jacques Dessalines Jean-Jacques Dessalines (Haitian Creole: ''Jan-Jak Desalin''; ; 20 September 1758 – 17 October 1806) was the first Haitian Emperor, leader of the Haitian Revolution, and the first ruler of an independent First Empire of Haiti, Haiti under th ...

. In 1806, Dessalines was assassinated. Vastey remained André Vernet's secretary in the Department of Finance and the Interior. In 1807,

founded a republic in the north of the island. In the wake of Minister Vernet, Vastey went into the service of Christophe. On March 26, 1811, Henri Christophe proclaimed himself king of Haiti (Henri I). Vastey is appointed secretary of the Legislative Commission responsible for preparing the Henry Code while his mentor, André Vernet, will be made Prince of

Gonaïves Gonaïves (; also Les Gonaïves; , ) is a commune in northern Haiti, and the capital of the Artibonite department of Haiti. The population was 356,324 at the 2015 census. History The city of Gonaïves was founded around 1422 by a group of T ...

. In 1814, on the death of the Prince of Gonaïves, Vastey was promoted to private secretary to the king and became tutor to the Prince Royal Jacques-Victor Henri. He is raised to the rank of baron. It was from this time that Vastey worked to defend the Haitian monarchy in writing against the dreaded return of the French. That year, he published ''Notes à M le baron de VP Malouet'' and especially '' Le Système Colonial Dévoilé (The Colonial System Unveiled),'' which lists the abuses committed by the former colonists and the list of the names of the torturers. This book is considered his major work. Baron de Vastey will also exercise his talents against the Haitian Republic of the South presided over by General Pétion (''Le Cri de la conscience'', and ''Le Cri de la patrie'', 1815). In 1816 and 1817, Baron de Vastey continued his war of the pen with France by publishing ''Reflections on a Letter from Mazères'' then ''Political Reflections on Some French Books and Journals Concerning Haiti.'' On August 20, 1819, he was made a knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint-Henri and was appointed Field Marshal and Chancellor. He published his last work that year: ''Essay on the causes of the revolution and civil wars in Haiti''. On October 8, 1820, there was a popular insurrection against the king. The insurgents attacked the Sans Souci Palace in Milot and King Henri Christophe committed suicide. The next day, the crowd arrested Vastey, the two royal princes and other notables, all of whom were executed a few days later. The heroic attitude of the baron in the face of death has been reported by witnesses. Most of his works were republished by

Nabu Press BiblioBazaar is, with Nabu Press, an imprint of the historical reprints publisher BiblioLife, which is based in Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of ...

in 2010, some of which were translated into English.

Selected works

* ''Le Système Colonial Dévoilé'' (1814) * '' Notes à M. le Baron de V. P. Malouet... en réfutation du 4ème volume de son ouvrage, intitulé: Collection de mémoires sur les colonies, et particulièrement sur Saint-Domingue'' (1814) * ''Le Cri de la Patrie, ou Les intérêts de tous les Haytiens'' (1815) * ''Le Cri de la Conscience, ou Réponse à un écrit, imprimé au Port-au-Prince, intitulé: Le peuple de la République d’Hayti, à Messieurs Vastey et Limonade'' (1815) * ''Réflexions adressées aux Haïtiens de partie de l'Ouest et du Sud sur l’horrible assassinat du Général Delvare...'' (1816) * ''Réflexions sur une lettre de Mazères : ex-colon français, adressée à M. J.C.L. Sismonde de Sismondi, sur les noirs et les blancs, la civilisation de l'Afrique, le royaume d'Hayti, etc.'' (English: ''Reflexions on the Blacks and Whites: Remarks upon a Letter Addressed by M. Mazères, a French Ex-Colonist, to J. C. L. Sismonde de Sismondi''), (1816) * ''Réflexions Politiques sur quelques Ouvrages et Journaux Français Concernant Haïti'' (English: ''Political Remarks upon Certain French Publications and Journals Concerning Haiti''), 1817 * ''Essai sur les Causes de la Révolution et des Guerres Civiles en Haïti'' (English: ''An Essay on the Causes of the Revolution and Civil Wars of Haiti''), 1819

Notes

Bibliography

* Quevilly, Laurent. ''Le Baron de Vastey'', (Books on Demand, 2014, .) Présentation en ligne= http://www.bod.fr/index.php?id=1786&objk_id=1236505. * Chris Bongie, ''The colonial system unveiled'', édition critique du ''Système colonial dévoilé'' traduit en anglais,

Liverpool University Press Liverpool University Press (LUP), founded in 1899, is the third oldest university press in England after Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. As the press of the University of Liverpool, it specialises in modern languages, lit ...

, 2014. * * Griggs, Earl Leslie and Thomas Prator. ''Henry Christophe and Thomas Clarkson: A Correspondence'' (Berkeley : U of California P, 1952). * Bongie, Chris. “‘Monotonies of History’: Baron de Vastey and the Mulatto Legend of Derek Walcott's The Haitian Trilogy.” ''

Yale French Studies ''Yale French Studies'' is an academic journal published biannually by Yale University Press and connected with the French department at Yale University. It is the oldest English-language journal in the United States devoted to French and Francopho ...

'' 107 (2005): 70-107. * Daut, Marlene. "Un-Silencing the past: Boisrond-Tonnerre, Vastey, and the Re-Writing of the Haitian Revolution." ''

South Atlantic Review The ''South Atlantic Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the South Atlantic Modern Language Association. It was established in 1935 and publishes articles and reviews in the fields of language and literature. As of ...

'' 74.1 (2009): 35–64. *Daut, Marlene. ''Baron de Vastey and the Origins of Black Atlantic Humanism''. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vastey, Pompee Valentin 1781 births 1820 deaths Haitian educators Haitian essayists male essayists Haitian male writers Haitian people of French descent Mulatto Haitians Haitian politicians Nobility in North America