Haitian historian Georges Corvington is dead

Described by his life-long friend Georges Michel as '...the greatest living Haitian historian', The passing of Georges Corvington, with whom Michel not only shared a name, but a profession, is truly a sad point in history.

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Georges Corvington, Jr died at home in the capital while asleep in bed, in his much beloved Port-au-Prince. His death was due to heart failure, an ailment which plagued the 88 year old and had caused a recent hospital stay for weeks prior to his death on the 3rd of April, 2013.

Corvington leaves behind a great literary, historical opus on the city he was born in, spent his life in and later died in, in the eight-volume history called Port-au-Prince au Cours des Ans (Port-au-Prince through the Ages). Published for over twenty years past its original publication date in 1970, the work detailed the Haitian capital's social and political history, beginning in 1749 when the French colonial rule began and culminating in 1956 with the former President Paul Magloire's exit.

For his masterpiece, Corvington collected books numbering in the thousands, creating an enviable and widely thought unrivalled personal library. He honed his writing skills during the '70's and, besides writing his major work on the capital, it's hills, coastline, eventual 3 million residents and their shared and personal histories, Corvington created pieces on important historical buildings like the National Cathedral and the National Palace, both of which were destroyed by the earthquake in 2010.

Well into his 80's when the devastation hit, Corvington is said to have narrowly escaped death after being trapped under the rubble of his home for an hour before rescue. He was miraculously unhurt and his great library was saved by the efforts of UNESCO.

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