Adélina Lévêque

Adélina
Empress consort of Haiti
Reign 1849-1859
Born 1795
Died ?
Spouse Faustin I of Haiti
Issue Célita Solouque; Olive Solouque

Adélina Soulouque (b. c. 1795-after 1859), née Lévêque, was Empress Consort of Haiti from 1849 until 1859, as wife of Faustin I of Haiti.

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 in December 1849 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.

Faustin's marriage to Empress Adélina produced one daughter, Princess Célita Soulouque, who had no issue. The emperor also adopted Adélina's daughter, Olive, in 1850. She was granted the title of Princess with the style Her Serene Highness. She married Jean Philippe Lubin, Count of Pétionville, and had issue.

Issue
  1. Princess Célita Soulouque.

Emperor Faustin adopted the daughter of Empress Adélina, probably by a different father:

  1. Princess Olive (known as "Madame"), b. c. 1842 (she was 15–16 years old in September 1858). Adopted by Emperor Faustin, raised to the title of Princess and granted the style of Her Serene Highness in 1850. She married Amitié Lubin (b. ca. 1800), son of Jean Philippe Vil Lubin, Count de Pétionville, by his wife, Elizabeth Ulcénie, née Amitié.

As Empress, Adelina was given her own court, composed of a grand almoner, two ladies of honor, two tire women, 56 ladies of the palace, 22 ladies of the chapel, chamberlains and pages: all he female courtiers came from the newly appointed nobility of Faustin and had the titles duchess, countess, baroness or marchioness.[1] She performed representational duties, such as receiving in state, or giving audiences, every Tuesday.[2]

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

References

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