People

Haiti, the poorest of all countries in the Western Hemisphere, has seen many Presidents since its independence in 1804. Most of them worked for their own personal benefits and some turned out to be dictators. Many of the Presidents eventually met a gruesome end but one President whose tale is sung till date was Louis Mondestin Florvil Hyppolite.

Louis Mondestin Florvil Hyppolite or popularly known as Florvil Hyppolite, was born in 1828. The constitutional council of Haiti elected and installed him as the President of Haiti in the year 1889. On 17th October 1889, Louis Mondestin Florvil Hyppolite took charge of the office of President. He was a general and a career soldier but it was also reported that Florvil Hyppolite was deeply influenced by Victoire Jean-Baptiste. Victoire was the mistress of Tirésias Simon Sam. After the death of Florvil Hyppolite, Tirésias Simon Sam became the President of Haiti.

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Claims against one-time Senator and President Michel Martelly's Special Political Advisor, Joseph Lambert, of his making death threats to them, have been filed by his former colleagues. Deputies Levaillant Louis-Jeune and Saurel Jacinthe, who worked with Lambert for INITE and LESPWA are alleging, by filing formal complaints with the Court of First Instance, that he has made threats against their lives.

The Government Commissioner, Me Lucmane Delile affirmed his receipt of the complaints in his role as Chief of Parquet. Delille has further stated a desire to become better acquainted with the circumstances before pushing forward with the pending lawsuits. Further corroborating the separate testimonies is Marie Yolene Gilles from RNDDH (National Network for the Defense of Human Rights) who confirms they were in receipt of sworn testimonies from Haitian citizens, though she declined to say specifically from whom. Details of the threats are scarce, but already tales of a plot to murder the two men, once Presidents of the Chamber, on April 29 have also been reported.

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Born in Jacmel in 1841 to a well-to-do mulatto couple, Hannibal Price began life above the curve. His well-funded education gave him the means to rise high in various respects and he became known as an author as well as a diplomat, having had the post of ambassador from Haiti to the United States for three years from 1890 until his death in 1893.

Price also acted as a Provisional Government Counselor after President Michel Domingue's fall in 1875 and was a serious advocate of Florvil Hyppolite. During the time he played the role of Minister Plenipotentiary to Washington he wrote the book he would be most known for entitled, 'De la Réhabilitation de la Race Noire par la République d'Haïti' (On the Rehabilitation of the Black Race by the Republic of Haiti). This further journey into authorship and the subject matter discussed was said to be in answer to 'Hayti or the Black Republic' by Spenser St. John. Published posthumously, the book sets about to comprehensively show all the possibilities for Haiti if the chains of illiteracy and the consuming practice of vodou were not in existence. It also endeavored to defend the Negro race and present the country to the foreign world in a more friendly light through the discourse of the history and social life of Haiti so voluminously documented within the pages.

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For Donna Karan, Haiti is the confluence of all her passions which include children's education, preservation of culture and well-being and health of people. She showed how big her heart is when she displayed her heart on 'Fashion for Haiti: One Million Hearts'. Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Nicole Miller along with 150 members of Council of American Fashion Designers put on auction the mâché hearts they created for 'Fashion for Haiti: One Million Hearts'. The auction runs from 22 April, 2013 to 2 May, 2013. 'Fashion for Haiti' is a collaboration between eBay, CFDA and Urban Zen.

Karan told to Women's Wear Daily that she was mesmerized by the extent and vividness of creativity and that each piece was unique in its own way and she could not call them anything less than couture collection. The money raised from the auction will be used by Urban Zen Foundation to help the Haitian artists. These Haitian artists actually created the hearts put on auction but were decorated by the designers. The New York location of Urban Zen has the installation of the hearts.

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This came as a shock and a surprise to the Haitian community in Spring Valley. In April 2013, Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin and Deputy Mayor Joseph A. Desmaret were arrested Tuesday April 4, 2013 by FBI agents for their alleged involvement in the sale of a land that was supposed to be used for a community center.

This was staged by FBI agents. According to the assistant director of the FBI, George Venizelos, Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin and Deputy Mayor Joseph A. Desmaret were involved in conning some members of the village's board of trustees to vote for a developer, that Jasmin had a financial stake in the sale.

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Born in the United States in 1775, Prince Saunders used the luck he found early in life to help blacks during a time of rampant racism and ignorance. Raised and later sent to university by George Oramel Hinckley, a white lawyer, Saunders was given the type of education coveted by many regardless of color or circumstance.

At 21, after attending Darthmouth College, Saunders was helped by college president John Wheelock into a teaching position at a school for African-Americans and joined a Masonic lodge, wherein he would soon rise to become the secretary.

During this early stage of his teaching career, Saunders persuaded Abiel Smith, a white merchant, to issue grants supporting black education. This endowment was granted and continued even after Smiths death, until the city taxes in Boston began giving support.

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Haitian born Garcelle Beauvais is a veritable diamond 'from' the rough, her rise in the business of show a true testament that dreams born on Haitian soil can come true. The 46 year old actress, singer and model got her start at 16 when she was signed to the Ford modeling agency. It was her first big break, and it came about after the divorce of parents Axel Jean Pierre and Marie-Claire provided a move that would change her life.

Her mother, a nurse, left the island with Garcelle and her six older siblings and relocated to Massachusetts. After leaving her lawyer father and country of birth behind Garcelle, then seven, experienced severe culture shock. She learned to adjust and picked up English by watching popular American kids shows, perhaps fueling her inspiration for future on-screen success.

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The Haiti PetroCaribe oil deal was signed just moments following the inauguration of René Préval; one mile away, in the Port-au-Prince bay, was the first shipment of diesel and unleaded fuel from Venezuela. Such decisive movements showed plainly that, while allaying US fears of a Haiti alliance with Venezuela, President Préval had already intended to join the Caribbean oil alliance.

The benefits were immediate, though it would take a few more years before regular deliveries of oil would be possible and construction on the promised oil refinery, an additional gift in the deal, would be complete. But Haiti's new fortune, while it came cheaply, was not without considerable price. The estimated $100 million US that the GOH would save from the delayed payment plan (with 60% up front and the remainder payable over 25 years at 1% interest) was paid for by the anger of the US Government and the US oil companies Chevron and ExxonMobil. Not only was PetroCaribe the project of Ugo Chavez, but it would mean significant losses to US investors.

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It is always thought wiser to teach a man to fish than to hand him one. This is a sentiment that Jean Dominique shaped his career around upon returning to Haiti from private school in France. Working with the poor, he took his training in agronomy to teach the peasantry how to sustain themselves through skillful use of the land.

Because of his efforts, which included showing peasant farmers how to avoid being in debt to wealthy landowners, Dominique was imprisoned for six months due to the connivance of the landowners who convinced the authorities to jail him so they could hold on to their control over the peasants. Upon his release from jail, he became a fierce detractor of François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier and his militant regime.

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Jean Dominique spent his early career first educating farmers on how to be self-sufficient under the thumb of wealthy land-owners. He then went on to making two notable firsts in the broadcasting world, opening the first film club in Haiti as well as Radio Haiti, the first station to broadcast in Creole. He went on to have multiple run-ins with the Duvalier regiments and was exiled in New York until his return in the mid 80's when he became a member of the Lavalas party which won the 1990 election.

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