Adélina Lévêque

Empress Adélina Soulouque,Empress Consort of Hayti (26 July 1820 – 12 October 1878), née Elisabeth Anne Justine Lévêque, was Empress Consort of Haiti from 1849 until 1859, as wife of Faustin I of Haiti.

Adélina
Empress consort of Haiti
Reign1849-1859
Born26 July 1820
Manegue, Arcahaie
Died12 October 1878 (aged 68)
Port-au-Prince
SpouseFaustin I of Haiti
IssueOlive Soulouque
Célita Soulouque

Adélina was the daughter of Marie Michel Lévêque, a Haitian of mixed-race heritage. She had a long-term relationship with Faustin Souloque for many years. It was only on 31 December 1847[1] that Adélina married her long-time companion Emperor Faustin. On 26 August 1849 she was given the title Empress of Haiti with the style of Her Imperial Majesty, and crowned with her husband at the capital Port-au-Prince on 18 April 1852: both emperor and empress were crowned in an immense and lavish ceremony that emulated the coronation of the French Napoleon I of France. Her sister was styled Her Serene Highness Princess Clélia.

They had two daughters:

  1. Princess Geneviève Olive (known as "Madame Première") (29 November 1842 – 23 July 1883). Legitimated on the marriage of her parents, raised to the title of Princess and granted the style of Her Serene Highness in 1849. She married Lieutenant-General H.E. Pierre Joseph Amitié Theodore Vil Lubin, Count Vil de Lubin.
  2. Princess Célestine Marie Françoise (1848 – aft. 27 January 1912), named Célita, raised to the title of Princess and granted the style of Her Serene Highness in 1849. She died unmarried.

As Empress, Adelina was given her own court, composed of a grand almoner, two ladies of honor, two tirewomen, 56 ladies of the palace, 22 ladies of the chapel, chamberlains and pages: all the female courtiers came from the newly appointed nobility of Faustin and had the titles duchess, countess, baroness or marchioness.[2] She performed representational duties, such as receiving in state, or giving audiences, every Tuesday.[3]

In 1858 a revolution began, led by General Fabre Geffrard, Duc de Tabara. In December of that year, Geffrard defeated the Imperial Army and seized control of most of the country. As a result, the emperor abdicated his throne on 15 January 1859. Refused aid by the French Legation, Faustin was taken into exile aboard a British warship on 22 January 1859. Soon afterwards, the emperor and his family arrived in Kingston, Jamaica, where they remained for several years. Allowed to return to Haïti, Faustin died at Petit-Goâve on 6 August 1867 and was buried at Fort Soulouque.

See also

Notes
  1. Buyers, Haiti, Soulouque Genealogy.
  2. John Bigelow: Jamaica in 1850: or, The Effects of Sixteen Years of Freedom on a Slave Colony
  3. Harriet Gibbs Marshall: The Story of Haiti: From the Discovery of the Island by Christopher Columbus to the Present Day. Christopher Publishing House, 1930

References
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