![Beaubrun Ardouin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Beaubrun_Ardouin.jpg)
Alexis Beaubrun Ardouin (1796–1865) was a
Haitian historian and politician. He wrote the eleven-volume ''Etudes sur l'Histoire d'Haïti'' (''Studies on the History of Haiti''), published in the 1850s and 60s. His ''Etudes'' have served as a valuable resource for later historians. Beaubrun Ardouin also wrote the first Haitian textbook, ''Géographie de l'Ile d'Haïti'' (''Geography of the Island of Haiti'') and ''Instruction sur le Jury''. Ardouin's historical writing attempted to put the
Haitian Revolution in the context of other nationalist revolutions in the Americas. He had Euro-African ancestry and his family was free before the revolution. He has been criticized by 20th-century scholars for championing
free people of color as the leaders both of the revolution and of post-independence Haiti.
Historian
Thomas Madiou
Thomas Madiou (Port-au-Prince, April 30 1815-''ibidem'', May 25, 1884) was a Haitian historian. His work ''Histoire d'Haïti'' (English: ''History of Haiti'') is the first complete history of Haiti from 1492 to 1846 (Madiou's present). It is consid ...
, who sought to repair the reputation of the great black heroes of the Haitian revolution, especially
Toussaint Louverture
François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (; also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda; 20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803) was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louverture ...
, and to portray the revolution as a successful slave uprising instead of as a national independence movement, is often cited as Ardouin's intellectual opponent. Historian and writer
Hénock Trouillot describes the conflict between nineteenth-century Haitian historians in more complex terms in his biography of Ardouin, claiming that Ardouin lacked historical resources to assess the significance of Louverture. Trouillot also describes Ardouin's intense involvement in Haitian politics in the 1840s and his exile to Paris. While in Paris, Ardouin was responsible for editing and publishing
Emeric Bergeaud's novel ''
Stella'' with Dentu in 1859, one year after Bergeaud's death. The novel is widely known as Haiti's first and portrays the Haitian Revolution as a movement demonstrating the unity of Haitian citizens and the importance of the formation of Haiti as an antislavery state.
[Emeric Bergeaud, ''Stella'', Paris: Dentu, 1859. A digitized version of its 2nd edition is located here: http://www.dloc.com/UF00089373/00001?search=stella. A translated critical edition is forthcoming with NYU Press, edited and translated by Lesley S. Curtis and Christen Mucher.]
Beaubrun Ardouin was elected
Senator in 1832 and served on the
Council of Secretaries of State in 1845.
Growing up during the revolutionary period, Beaubrun Ardouin was not able to attend school regularly; he was self-taught. He had a strong interest in
French literature, especially the works of
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...
,
Montesquieu
Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher.
He is the princi ...
, and
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
.
Ardouin's brothers,
Céligny
Céligny is a municipality in the canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It consists of two small exclaves of the Canton of Geneva surrounded by the Canton of Vaud, near Crans-près-Céligny.
History
Céligny is first mentioned in 1163 as ''Siliniacum ...
and
Coriolan, were also well-known; Céligny as a politician and historian, Coriolan as a poet. The three Ardouin brothers, along with the Nau brothers,
Emile and
Ignace
Ignace is a township in the Kenora District of Northwestern Ontario, Canada, located at Highway 17 (Trans Canada Highway) and Secondary Highway 599, and on the Canadian Pacific Railway between Thunder Bay and Kenora. It is on the shore of ...
, were members of the literary society "
The School of 1836," which was founded by Ignace Nau. Coriolan died young in 1836, while Céligny ran afoul of
Faustin-Élie Soulouque's government and was executed in 1849. Beaubrun published Céligny's ''Essais sur l'Histoire d'Haïti'' (English: ''Essays on the History of Haiti'') in 1865, just before his own death.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ardouin, Beaubrun
1796 births
1865 deaths
19th-century Haitian historians
Haitian male writers
Presidents of the Senate (Haiti)
Beaubrun