Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain (6 November 1898 – 20 June 1975) was the first woman

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 ...

an anthropologist. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain was a student of Bronislaw Malinowski who worked in 1949 with

Alfred Métraux Alfred Métraux (5 November 1902 – 12 April 1963) was a Swiss and Argentine anthropologist, ethnologist and human rights leader. Early life Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Métraux spent much of his childhood in Argentina where his father was a ...

, and participated in a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

project in Haiti. She married Jean Comhaire, a Belgian who headed the Anthropology Department of University of Nsukka. Subsequently, she worked in Africa.

Biography

She was born on 6 November 1898 in Port-au-Prince,

, and was the daughter of

Georges Sylvain Georges Sylvain (1866–1925) was a Haitian poet, lawyer and diplomat. Born in Puerto Plata (city), Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Sylvain studied in his native city before attending school in Paris and receiving a law degree. After retur ...

an activist and symbol of the resistance against the American Occupation, and of Eugénie Malbranche. She studied in Kingston and Port-au-Prince before she obtained her bachelor's degree and Doctorate in Paris. Besides her interest in Haitian folklore and social issues of the condition of women in Haiti and Africa, her research focused on the origins of Creole language, an idiom considered juvenile and worthless at that time. She had chosen a difficult path but her work, disregarded by her peers, sparked the interest of famous Polish anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski. The latter invited her in London where she became her research assistant while studying at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

and later at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. She also conducted successful research at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

that resulted in her major work regarding the African roots of Haitian Creole. Comhaire-Sylvain conducted field research in Kenscoff and Marbial (Haiti),

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

(Congo),

Lomé Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

(Togo) and

Nsukka Nsukka is a town and a Local Government Area in Enugu State, Nigeria. Nsukka shares a common border as a town with Edem, Opi (archaeological site), Ede-Oballa, and Obimo. The postal code of the area is 410001 and 410002 respectively referr ...

(Nigeria) and worked with renowned anthropologists such as Melville Herskovits and Alfred Metraux who entrusted her and her husband Jean Comhaire with a mission of the UNESCO in Haiti. Comhaire-Sylvain also taught at the New School for Social Research in New York, was an early recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, and was appointed a member of the United Nations trusteeship council for Togo and Cameroon under French administration. Comhaire-Sylvain came from a very notable family in Haiti. Her uncle

Benito Sylvain Benito Sylvain (born Marie-Joseph Benoît d'Artagnan Sylvain; 21 March 1868 – 3 January 1915) was a Haitian journalist, diplomat, lawyer. He was also of the organizers of the 1900 Pan-African Conference. Sylvain pathed the connection betwee ...

was one of the founding fathers of

Pan-Africanism Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...

and her father

(1866–1925) was an important figure of the resistance against the American occupation in Haiti. Comhaire-Sylvain was the oldest of a family of seven. Her sister

Yvonne Sylvain Yvonne Sylvain (June 28, 1907 – October 3, 1989) was a Haitian physician who was the first female medical doctor from the country. She was also the first woman accepted into the University of Haiti Medical School, and earned her medical degree ...

(1907–1989) was the first Haitian woman physician and the first gynecologist-obstetrician of the country. Many of her articles were published in the magazine Voix des femmes (Women's Voices). Their brother Normil Sylvain (1900–1929) was a poet and co-founder in 1927 of La Revue indigène. Comhaire-Sylvain's sister

Madeleine Sylvain Madeleine Sylvain-Bouchereau (July 5, 1905 –1970) was a pioneering Haitian sociologist and educator. In 1934, she was one of the principal founders of the '' Ligue Féminine d'Action Sociale'' (Women's Social Action League), the first feminist o ...

(1905–1970) was one of the founders of the

Ligue Feminine d’Action Sociale The Catholic League of France (french: Ligue catholique), sometimes referred to by contemporary (and modern) Catholics as the Holy League (), was a major participant in the French Wars of Religion. The League, founded and led by Henry I, Duke of ...

(Feminine League for Social Action) which fought for women's legal rights such as equality for married women. Finally, her youngest brother Pierre Sylvain (1910–1991) was a botanist who published several reports on coffee production in Ethiopia. She died in a car accident in Nigeria on 20 June 1975. As of 2014, her papers had been catalogued and made available through

Stanford University Libraries The Stanford University Libraries (SUL), formerly known as "Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources" ("SULAIR"), is the library system of Stanford University in California. It encompasses more than 24 libraries in all. Sev ...

Selected published works

Her work (including more than 200 articles) was awarded numerous distinctions, such as the Prix de l'Alliance Française (The French Alliance Prize), "La Médaille de l'Académie Française" (The Medal of the French Academy), "La Grande Médaille de l'Alliance Française et La Médaille de la Société pour l'Encouragement du Progrès" (The French Alliance Medal and the Medal of the Society for Encouragement and Progress). 1937. ''Les contes haiïtiens'' (Ière partie): Maman D'leau. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain; Université de Paris, Faculté des letters. hesis/Dissertation : Microfiche : Master microform Paris: s.n., 1937; Wetteren (Belgique): Imprimerie De Messter. 1937. ''Les contes haïtiens'' (IIème partie): conjoint animal ou démon déguisé. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain. [Thesis/Dissertation : Microfiche : Master microform. publisher: s.n: Paris. 1937. ''Les contes haïtiens''. (I-II). Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain; Thesis /Dissertation. Publisher: Paris; Wetteren (Belgique) : Imprimerie De Messter. 1937. ''Review of: Le Créole Haïtien, Morphologie et Syntaxe Review of: Les Contes Haitiens'' (I partie), IIe Partie by C G Woodson, Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain [Article]; language: English; publication: ''Journal of Negro History'', July, Vol. 22, No. 3, p. 369–372. 1938. ''A propos du vocabulaire des croyances paysannes''. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 1938. ''Contes du pays d'Haïti''. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 1938. ''Loisirs et divertissements dans la région de Kenscoff'', ''Haïti''. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, Jean Comhaire-Sylvain.Travaux Publics: Bruxelles. 1940. ''Le roman de Bouqui''. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain. Imprimerie du Collège Vertières: Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 1952. ''La alimentación en la región de Kenscoff, Haiti''. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, Jean Comhaire-Sylvain. América Indígena: México, D.F. 1953. ''Haitian Creole: grammar, texts, vocabulary''. Robert Anderson Hall; Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, Alfred Métraux. American folklore society: Philadelphia; American Anthropological Ass.: Menasha, Wis.; American Folklore Society: New York, Kraus Reprint, 1969. 1959. ''Naissance, mort, état-civil à Kenscoff, Haïti''. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, Jean Louis Léopold Comhaire. Bruxelles. 1959. ''Urban stratification in Haiti''. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, J. Comhaire-Sylvain. Institute of Social and Economic Research, University College of the West Indies: Kingston (?), Jamaica, W.I. 1962. ''Considérations sur les migrations à Addis Abeba'' reparé pour le College Universitaire d'Addis Abeba Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain. S.L.: S.N. Distr. Restreinte. 1964. ''A statistical note on the Kenscoff market system, Haiti''. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, J. Comhaire-Sylvain. Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of the West Indies: Kingston, Jamaica. 1968. ''Femmes de Kinshasa hier et aujourd'hui''. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain. Microfilm. Le Haye /Mouton: Paris. 1970. ''Le Nouveau dossier Afrique. Situation et perspectives d'un continent''. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, Jean Louis Léopold Comhaire. Verviers, Gérard & Co, 1970, ©1971; by Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, Jean Comhaire, Fernand Bezy, Francis Olu Okediji, Pierre L. Van den Berghe, Amadou Mahtar M'Bow. Verviers: Marabout, 1975.. 1974. ''Jetons nos couteaux!: contes des garçonnets de Kinshasa et quelques parallèles haïtiens''. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain. Centre d'Etudes Ethnologiques: Bandundu, Zaïre. 1975(?). ''Contes haïtiens : textes intégrales créole-français''. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain. CEEBA: Bandundu, Zaire. 1979. ''Le Créole haïtien''. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain. Slatkine Reprints: Genève. 1982. ''Femmes de Lomé''. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain.. CEEBA: Bandundu, Zaire; Steyler Verlag (distributor): St. Augustin, Rép. féd. d'Allemagne. 1982. ''Mai-ndombe: paysages, histoire, culture'' (Rép. du Zaïre). Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain et al.. CEEBA: Bandundu, Zaire. 1984. ''Les montagnards de la région de Kenscoff'' (Rép. d'Haïti): une société Kongo au-delà des mers. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, Jean Comhaire. CEEBA: Bandundu, Zaïre. 1991. ''Cric? crac! : contes du pays d'Haiti''. Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, Casimir; Maruzen Mates, et al. Maruzen Mates: Tokyo.

References

{{Authority control Haitian anthropologists Haitian women anthropologists Haitian women scientists 1898 births 1975 deaths 20th-century anthropologists

Biography

Selected published works

See also

References