The Forgotten Queen of Haiti

Marie-Louise Coidavid was born free in Cap-Français in 1778, married Henry Christophe in a city on fire, and was crowned Queen of Haiti in 1811. Drawing on the research of Dr. Marlene Daut, this Deep Dive follows her from the free Black families of colonial Saint-Domingue to the court at Sans-Souci, through the night of October 8, 1820, and the killing of her son Prince Victor, to her long exile in England and Pisa. Along the way we look at what the women's archive of the Revolution can and cannot tell us, and the question Daut leaves open: what does it mean that a queen swore a sovereign's oath?

Read the full transcript on Jou: https://jou.rasanblaj.ht/podcast/deep-dive/2026-10-20/transcript