Professor Jean-Joseph Lorimer Denis (1904-1957), known commonly as just Lorimer Denis, was a Haitian
Indigenist
Indigenism can refer to several different ideologies that seek to promote the interests of indigenous peoples. The term is used differently by various scholars and activists, and can be used purely descriptively or carry political connotations.
D ...
ethnologist and theorist of the noirist movement. He was an associate of Haitian leader
François Duvalier
François Duvalier (; 14 April 190721 April 1971), also known as Papa Doc, was a Haitian politician of French Martiniquan descent who served as the President of Haiti from 1957 to 1971. He was elected president in the 1957 general election on ...
, with whom he founded noirism and published the ''Les Griots'' journal with from 1938 to 1940.
Life
Jean-Joseph Lorimer Denis was born in 1904 in Cap-Haïtien to a senator. He studied law in
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...
, becoming an ''avocat'' in 1929.
Lorimer began his association with later Haitian leader
François Duvalier
François Duvalier (; 14 April 190721 April 1971), also known as Papa Doc, was a Haitian politician of French Martiniquan descent who served as the President of Haiti from 1957 to 1971. He was elected president in the 1957 general election on ...
during Duvalier's teenage years, when they met as ethnology enthusiasts. At the time, Lorimer was an Africanist studying Voudoun under
Jean Price-Mars
Jean Price-Mars (15 October 1876 – 1 March 1969) was a Haitian doctor, teacher, politician, diplomat, writer, and ethnographer.Louis Diaquoi, they founded a group named the ''Trois D'' in 1929 and one named ''Les Griots'' in 1932, named after a West African word for a bard. They theorized that culture and psychology was determined by race. Upon Duvalier's return to Haiti from the United States, Lorimer introduced him to
and convinced him to join the Mouvement Ouvriers et Paysans (MOP), a political party. In 1946, Lorimer became one of the founding members of the Parti Populaire National, and began writing a book with Duvalier. In 1948, Duvalier and Lorimer published ''The Class Problem in Haitian History'', in which they posited that the struggle within Haiti was not one based on class but on race.
Lorimer became the assistant director of the Haitian government's Bureau of Ethnology, which he was upon Duvalier's return. From 1946 to his death in 1957, Lorimer was the director of the Bureau.
Lorimer had a notable style, in that he carried a
coco macaque
Coco commonly refers to:
* Coco (folklore), a mythical bogeyman in many Hispano- and Lusophone nations
Coco may also refer to:
People
* Coco (given name), a first name, its shorthand, or unrelated nickname
* Coco (surname), a list of people wi ...