Beaubrun Ardouin

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Alexis Beaubrun Ardouin (1796 - 1865) was a Haitian historian and politician. He is best remembered for his eleven-volume Etudes sur l'Histoire d'Haïti (Studies on the History of Haiti), published in 1865. His Etudes have served as a valuable resource for later historians. Beaubrun Ardouin also wrote the first Haitian textbook, Géographie de l'Ile d'Haïti (Geography of the Island of Haiti) and Instruction sur le Jury.

Ardouin's historical writing attempted to put the Haitian Revolution in the context of other nationalist revolutions in the Americas and denied that it had any special racial or class implications. He was a man of mixed race himself, from a family that was free before the revolution, and he argued that the former free people of color were the natural leaders both of the revolution and of post-independence Haiti. His great intellectual opponent was Thomas Madiou, who sought to repair the reputation of the great black heroes of the Haitian revolution, especially Toussaint Louverture, and to portray the revolution as a successful slave uprising instead of as a national independence movement.

Beaubrun Ardouin was elected Senator in 1832 and served on the Council of Secretaries of State in 1845.

Growing up during the revolutionary period, Beaubrun Ardouin was not able to attend school regularly; he was self-taught. He had a strong interest in French literature, especially the works of Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Ardouin's brothers, Céligny and Coriolan, were also well-known; Céligny as a politician and historian, Coriolan as a poet. The three Ardouin brothers, along with the Nau brothers, Emile and Ignace, were members of the literary society "The School of 1836," which was founded by Ignace Nau. Coriolan died young in 1836, while Céligny ran afoul of Faustin-Élie Soulouque's government and was executed in 1849. Beaubrun published Céligny's Essais sur l'Histoire d'Haïti (English: Essays on the History of Haiti) in 1865, just before his own death.

[edit] References

• Schutt-Ainé, Patricia; Staff of Librairie Au Service de la Culture (1994). Haiti: A Basic Reference Book. Miami, Florida: Librairie Au Service de la Culture, pp. 90-91. ISBN 0-9638599-0-0.