Victoria Montou

Montou is believed to have been born in the Kingdom of Dahomey, in present-day Benin. Some sources indicate that she was a soldier there. It is unclear precisely when she was abducted and enslaved, or when she arrived in Haiti.

Before the revolution, Montou worked alongside Dessalines as a slave on the estate of Henry Duclos. She was described as intelligent and energetic, and shared a close relationship with Dessalines and the same hatred toward slavery. Dessalines called her his aunt, which may have reflected their closeness as expressed within the traditions of African diasporic kinship, rather than a direct biological link.[1]

Montou was reportedly a skilled warrior, midwife and healer, who organised several rebellions before the momentous meeting at Bois Caiman in 1791.[1]

During the slave rebellion and civil war, she fought as a soldier in active service; on at least one documented occasion, she commanded soldiers in action during battle.

During the revolt, at the head of about fifty slaves was Toya, with a faulx in her hand, a hoe on one shoulder and an indigo knife hanging from the belt of her camisole. On Toya's command, one part is sent to deforestation, another to plowing, others to harvest and put in large baskets of cereals. She had a strong voice, her commands were identical to those of a general. A small number of rebels, under the command of Toya, was quickly surrounded and taken prisoner by the regiment. During the struggle, Toya runs away pursued by two soldiers; a clinch took place between them and Toya; one of them was seriously injured by Toya and the other, helped by a few other soldiers who arrived in time, Toya became a prisoner.

In 1804 Dessalines became Emperor of Haiti, and he gave Montou the title of Duchess.

When Montou was dying, the emperor urged a French doctor to save her life, stating that Toya was his aunt who had shared his feelings since before the revolution.[2] She was given a state funeral with a procession of eight sergeants and Empress Marie-Claire Heureuse Felicite dressed in black between two non-commissioned officers led the convoy.

The names of few women soldiers who served in the Haitian army during the revolution have been remembered. Montou is amongst the very few exceptions, alongside Marie-Jeanne Lamartiniére and Sanité Belair.

Montou is also remembered for her role in raising and teaching Dessalines. Kersuze Simeon-Jones writes that "For her lasting influence on Dessalines, Adbaraya Toya shall be remembered as the grandmother, mother, and aunt-figure who helped prepare the Liberator of African descendants enslaved throughout the Americas".[1]

• http://www.haiticulture.ch/Toya.html
• http://www.haiticulture.ch/Marie-Jeanne.html
• Jean-Baptiste Mirambeau, Victoria, dans Le Document, no.2, Février 1940, p107.