Sophia Saint-Rémy Martelly (born October 9, 1965) is a Haitian health activist, politician, and former

first lady of Haiti First Lady of Haiti (, ) or First Gentleman of Haiti is the title attributed to the spouse of the president of Haiti. Spouses References External links First Lady of Haiti official government page (French) {{First Ladies and Gentlemen Ha ...

from May 14, 2011, until February 7, 2016. She is the wife of the former

president of Haiti The president of Haiti (, ), officially called the president of the Republic of Haiti (, , ), is the head of state of Haiti. Executive power in Haiti is divided between the president and the government, which is headed by the prime minister of ...

Michel Martelly Michel Joseph Martelly (; born 12 February 1961) is a Haitian musician and politician who served as the 42nd president of Haiti from May 2011 until February 2016. On August 20, 2024, the United States sanctioned the former president for traffic ...

. She focused on issues related to

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

, healthcare and alleviating

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

during her tenure as first lady.

Biography

Early life and marriage

Martelly was born by Sophia Saint-Rémy on October 9, 1965, 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 ...

in the United States. Her father, Charles Edouard Saint-Rémy, was from

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 ...

, and her mother, Mona Lisa Florez, is from

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 ...

. The Saint-Rémy family is originally from

, where Sophia Saint Rémy was raised. The Saint-Remys suffered under the dictatorship of

François "Papa Doc" Duvalier François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * François-Marie Arouet (better known as Voltaire; 1 ...

; her grandmother was arrested and detained by Duvalier and two of her paternal relatives were executed during his dictatorship. Saint-Rémy and her future husband, the singer and politician

, had been friends when they were children, but had lived separate lives as young adults. He migrated to the United States with his American first wife during the 1980s. In 1986, Martelly divorced his first wife and returned to Haiti. Saint-Rémy and Martelly, who were childhood friends, reunited in 1987, shortly after he moved back to the country. When they tried to marry, both of their mothers objected based on their skin color: she has lighter skin, while he has a darker

complexion Complexion in humans is the natural color, texture, and appearance of the skin, especially on the face. History The word "complexion" is derived from the Late Latin ''complexi'', which initially referred in general terms to a combination of t ...

. They ignored their parents' protests and, instead, moved together to

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, later in 1987. where they married in a small 1987 wedding ceremony. He worked in construction, while she worked as a

word processor A word processor (WP) is a device or computer program that provides for input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features. Early word processors were stand-alone devices dedicated to the function, but current word ...

. They returned to Haiti in 1988 and had four children, Olivier, Alexandre, Yani and Michel. Their early marriage was different from Martelly's onstage "Sweet Mickey"

persona A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...

. He imposed a

curfew A curfew is an order that imposes certain regulations during specified hours. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to remain indoors during the evening and nighttime hours. Such an order is most often issued by public authorit ...

on her and forbade her to chew gum as recently as the late-1990s. She is four years younger than her husband. The couple lived in a

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, during the mid-1990s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martelly, Sophia Living people 1965 births First ladies and gentlemen of Haiti People from Gonaïves Politicians from New York City