From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Suzanne Belair
, called
Sanite Belair
, (1781 ? 5 October 1802),
[1]
was a
Haitian
revolutionary
and
lieutenant
in the army of
Toussaint Louverture
.
Born an
affranchi
in
Verrettes
, Haiti, she married
Brigade
commander and later
General
Charles Belair
in 1796. She was an active participant in the
Haitian Revolution
, became a sergeant and later a lieutenant during the conflict with French troops of the
Saint-Domingue expedition
.
Capture and execution
[
edit
]
Chased by Faustin Repussard's column of the French army, the Belairs took refuge in the
Artibonite
department. Repussard launched a surprise attack on Corail-Mirrault, and captured Sanite Belair.
[2]
Her husband turned himself over as well to avoid being separated from her. Both were sentenced to death, her spouse was to be executed by firing squad and she by
decapitation
because of her sex. As she watched Belair's execution, she calmly asked him to die bravely, then went to her own execution, refusing to wear a blindfold.
[1]
It is said that at her capture, when threatened with beheading, she successfully asserted the right to an honorable soldier’s death by musketry, and standing before their muzzles cried “Viv libete! A ba esclavaj!” (“Long live freedom! Down with slavery!”)
Legacy
[
edit
]
Sanite Belair is considered as one of the heroes of the Haitian Revolution. In 2004, she was featured on the ten-gourd banknote of the
Haitian gourde
for the "Bicentennial of Haiti" Commemorative series.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
James, Cyril Lionel Robert (1963).
The Black Jacobins; Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution
(2d ed., rev ed.). New York: Vintage Books. p. 252.
ISBN
0394702425
.
OCLC
362702
.
- ^
Madiou, Thomas (1803).
Histoire d'Haiti: 1799-1803
. Editions H. Deschamps
. Retrieved
3 March
2015
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Jomini, Antoine-Henri. (1842).
Histoire critique et militaire des guerres de la Revolution
. Brussels.
External links
[
edit
]
Image
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]
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