Michèle Bennett
Michèle Bennett | |
---|---|
First Lady of Haiti | |
In role 27 May 1980 – 7 February 1986 | |
President | Jean-Claude Duvalier |
Preceded by | Simone Duvalier |
Succeeded by | Gabrielle Namphy |
Personal details | |
Born | Port‑au‑Prince, Haiti | 15 January 1950
Spouses | Alix Pasquet Jr.
(m. 1973; div. 1978)Jean‑Claude Duvalier
(m. 1980; div. 1990) |
Children | 4 |
Michèle Bennett (born 15 January 1950)
Early life
Michèle Bennett was born in
Marriage
Although Bennett met
The marriage represented a symbolic alliance with the mulatto elite, the families Jean‑Claude's father had opposed.[6][13] This resulted in her husband's mother, Simone Duvalier, who opposed the match, being sidelined politically, which in turn created new factional alliances within the ruling group since the Duvalierist Old Guard opined that the new First Lady's power appeared to exceed her husband's. While Jean‑Claude often dozed through Cabinet meetings, his wife, frustrated at his political ineptitude, reprimanded ministers herself.[14]
First lady
Accusations of or associations with corruption plagued the Duvalier–Bennett marriage. Michèle's father, Ernest Bennett, took advantage of his presidential connection to extend interests into his businesses, from his
Michèle Duvalier's family amassed wealth during the later part of Jean‑Claude's dictatorship. By the end of his fifteen‑year rule, Duvalier and his wife had become notorious for their corruption.[8] The National Palace became the scene of opulent costume parties, where the young President once appeared dressed as a Turkish sultan to dole out ten‑thousand‑dollar jewels as door prizes.[8]
While on a visit to Haiti in 1983, Pope John Paul II declared that "things must change in Haiti", and he called on "all those who have power, riches and culture so that they can understand the serious and urgent responsibility to help their brothers and sisters".[16] Popular uprising against the regime began soon after that. Duvalier responded with a 10% reduction in staple food prices, the closing of independent radio stations, a cabinet reshuffle, and a crackdown by police and army units, but these moves failed to dampen the momentum of the popular uprising. Jean‑Claude's wife and advisers urged him to put down the rebellion in order to remain in office. In response to widening opposition to 28 years of Duvalier rule, on 7 February 1986, the Duvaliers fled the rioting country in an American plane accompanied by 19 other people.[3][17]
Exile
The governments of Greece, Spain, Switzerland, Gabon and Morocco all refused the Duvalier family's requests for asylum. France agreed to give the Duvaliers temporary entry but also denied them asylum.[18] Soon after their arrival in France, their home was raided as part of an investigation into pillaging Haiti's treasury. Bennett was found trying to flush documentation down a toilet. Her papers documented recent spending including US$168,780 for Givenchy clothing, US$270,200 for Boucheron jewellery and US$9,752 for two children's horse saddles at Hermès.[19] In 1987, a French civil court dismissed Haiti's lawsuit against the Duvaliers, which sought to have the Duvaliers held responsible to repay money to Haiti.[20]
In 1990, Jean‑Claude Duvalier filed for divorce from Bennett in the Dominican Republic, accusing her of immoral acts.[4] Bennett, who was living with another man in Cannes at the time, contested the decision, flying to the Dominican Republic to obtain a reversal before her husband prevailed in a third court.[4] She was awarded alimony and child support.[4]
In the wake of the
References
- OL 25772018M.
On January 15, her birthday, Michèle announced the creation of the Michèle B. Duvalier Foundation, which would build clinics, orphanages, schools, and a hospital.
- ^ a b "Duvalier's wife claims full partnership". Ottawa Citizen. 4 January 1986.
- ^ a b Cloutier, Jean‑Pierre (18 May 1997) [1st pub. 1986 in the Haiti Times]. "C‑141 Passenger List". The Haitian Files. Archived from the original on 22 October 2014.
When former President Jean‑Claude Duvalier flew away on the United States Air Force C‑141 jet in the night of February 7 [1986], he was accompanied by 20 other persons. We have been able to obtain the list of passengers on the night flight.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015., and she was awarded alimony and child support.
From their home in France, Mr. Duvalier filed for divorce in the Dominican Republic, accusing his wife of immoral acts. . . . The divorce was granted [in October 1989], but [Bennett] contested the decision, flying to the Dominican Republic to obtain a reversal before her husband prevailed in a third court. . . . [Bennett] is [as of 1990] living with another man in Cannes, according to a report in Le Figaro
- ^ OL 25025684M.. As such, she is Christophe's great‑great‑great‑granddaughter.
Born in 1950 in Port‑au‑Prince, she is the light‑skinned daughter of Ernest Bennett (1926–2008), a mulatto businessman who was a descendant of Henri Christophe
- ^ ISSN 1528-5758.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Reding, Andrew (2004). "Democracy and Human Rights in Haiti" (PDF). World Policy Reports. New York: World Policy Institute. pp. 93, 115. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Danner, Mark (11 December 1989). "Beyond the Mountains (Part III)". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014.
- from the original on 22 June 2015.
- ^ from the original on 28 September 2015.
- OL 7913209M.
- from the original on 11 June 2022.
- ^ "'First Lady of Haiti': Baby Doc's Bride Wins Power". Observer–Reporter. Washington, Pennsylvania. Associated Press. 16 April 1981.
- ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the originalon 30 March 2009.
While Jean‑Claude sometimes dozes through Cabinet meetings, his wife scolds ministers.
- from the original on 28 July 2015.
- ISSN 1064-7317.] said.
The Roman Catholic pontiff responded with a stern lecture to the island country's tiny moneyed elite, telling the 31‑year‑old president‑for‑life of the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, 'Things must change in Haiti.' . . . 'I call on all those who have power, riches and culture so that they can understand the serious and urgent responsibility to help their brothers and sisters,' [Pope John Paul II
- ^ Wolff, Christine (12 June 1986). "Baby Doc to Walters: 'Did best I could'". The Miami News. p. 4A.[permanent dead link]
- ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the originalon 23 May 2010.
. . . the Greek, Spanish and Swiss governments had all rebuffed the Duvalier family's requests for asylum. Two African countries, Gabon and Morocco, also said Duvalier would not be welcome. . . . Meanwhile, France had agreed to give Duvalier's entourage temporary entry, while making it clear that permanent exile in the country was out of the question.
- ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the originalon 10 September 2015.
As part of an investigation into the looting allegations, authorities raided the villa Mr. Duvalier and his wife rented in [the town of Mougins] shortly after they arrived in France. The authorities say they caught Mrs. Duvalier trying to flush a notebook down the toilet. It logged recent spending – $168,780 for clothes at Givenchy, $270,200 for jewellery at Boucheron, $9,752 for two children's horse saddles at [Hermès], $68,500 for a clock, [and] $13,000 for a week in a Paris hotel. . . . Mr. Duvalier's former wife, [Michèle] Bennett, 53, who [as of 2003 ] uses her family name, declined to respond to written questions posed to her through Sauveur Vaisse, a longtime Duvalier attorney in France.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016.[France], near the Riviera, said it was unqualified to judge the case on technical grounds and suggested the Haitian government should have first brought suit against Duvalier in the Haitian Supreme Court.
A French court today threw out Haiti's request to force deposed president Jean‑Claude Duvalier to reimburse [ that the new government said he looted from his poverty‑stricken Caribbean nation during 15 years in power. . . . The civil court in Grasse
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
In Haitian society, Rudy Bennett, 57, was a somebody, a prominent businessman and the younger brother of [Michèle] Bennett, the former first lady and ex‑wife of Jean‑Claude Duvalier. But his death got little notice here . . .
- from the original on 30 September 2015.