Marie-Claire Heureuse

Here is Marie-Claire Heureuse Félicité Bonheur, the spouse of Jean-Jacques Dessalines. The got married in 1800 and together they had seven children

This famous Haitian woman was born in the city of leogane and her family never knew slavery. Her Father was Guillaume Bonheur and mother, Marie-Élisabeth Sainte-Lobelot.

One great act she is known for was during the siege of the city of Jacmel in 1800. She took care of the wounded and starving soldiers and somehow managed to convince her husband Jean-Jacques Dessalines to allow those wounded in the city to get out in order to receive proper medical care. later on she went into the city with food and medicine.

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Here is a picture of the Home of Marie-Claire Heureuse.

Marie-Claire Heureuse Félicité Bonheur, the first Empress consort of the independent Haiti, was the daughter of two poor but free Haitians from Leogane. She was born sometime in 1758. After becoming widow of her first husband Pierre Lunic in 1795, she married Jean-Jacques Dessalines in 1800 and became the Empress consort of Haiti (1804-1806) as the spouse of Jean-Jacques Dessalines. In early 1804, when Jacques Dessalines (born 20 September 1758, died 17 October 1806) issued drastic order, the extermination of the entire White population of Haiti, Marie-Claire was adamantly opposed to this policy and she made no secret of the fact. From her earliest days, she had been a nurse and teacher by heart. She maintained her principles and values, relentlessly worked to alleviate the suffering of prisoners and wounded men irrespective of their colors and races. In 1843, she was granted a modest pension by the government, but it was not because she was a former imperial consort; it was offered because the government confiscated all of her husband's extensive properties leaving nothing to her. Marie died on 8 August 1858 (aged 99-100).

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