Stéphanie Balmir Villedrouin (; born 29 March 1982) is a Haitian entrepreneur who formerly served as the minister of tourism of

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

Early years

Villedrouin comes from a prominent

an family; the seventh child of Alix Balmir, a diplomat, and his wife, Gladys Dubousquet, a native of the city of Gonaïves, Haiti; both of her parents are mixed-race. She was born abroad in Caracas while her father was serving in diplomatic relations as the Ambassador of Haiti in Venezuela. Two months later her father was designated to the Haitian Embassy in Colombia, wherein Villedrouin spent her early childhood. After the fall of the

Jean-Claude Duvalier Jean-Claude Duvalier (; 3 July 19514 October 2014), nicknamed "Baby Doc" ( ht, Bebe Dòk), was a Haitian politician who was the President of Haiti from 1971 until he was overthrown by a popular uprising in February 1986. He succeeded his father F ...

’s regime, in 1986, the whole family returned to Haiti and established restaurants and hotels. Villedrouin was four years old when her family returned to Haiti, where she completed her schooling 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 ...

. Then, she studied hospitality and tourism management at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, in

Santiago, Dominican Republic Santiago de los Caballeros (; '' en, Saint James of the Knights''), often shortened to Santiago, is the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic and the fourth-largest city in the Caribbean by population. It is the capital of Santiago Prov ...

; she managed a hotel in

Kenscoff Kenscoff ( ht, Kenskòf) is a commune in the Port-au-Prince Arrondissement, in the Ouest department of Haiti, located in the foothills of the Chaîne de la Selle mountain range, some 10 kilometres to the southeast of the capital city of Port-au-P ...

, a mountainous hamlet located 10 kilometres to the southeast of Port-au-Prince. She is fluent in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; ht, kreyòl ayisyen, links=no, ; french: créole haïtien, links=no, ), commonly referred to as simply ''Creole'', or ''Kreyòl'' in the Creole language, is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12million people wor ...

, as well as in Spanish and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Minister of Tourism

Her first term as the Minister of Tourism of

was from 20 October 2011 to 2 April 2014. Rebranded as the Minister of Tourism and Creative Industries, Madame Villedrouin was re-confirmed to a second term on 2 April 2014 and served until 23 March 2016. During her tenure, Haiti inaugurated its first Tourism Promotion Office.

Personal life

In 2003, she married Marcel Bernard Villedrouin and they have three children together.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villedrouin, Stephanie Living people 1982 births Politicians from Caracas People from Port-au-Prince Tourism ministers of Haiti Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra alumni Women government ministers of Haiti Haitian people of Mulatto descent 21st-century Haitian women politicians 21st-century Haitian politicians