Max Hudicourt
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Max Lélio Hudicourt (June 25, 1907 – May 4, 1947) was a
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 lawyer, journalist and leading
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
politician. Hudicourt was born 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 ...
to an elite light-skinned family, but spent his childhood in
Jérémie Jérémie ( ht, Jeremi) is a commune and capital city of the Grand'Anse department in Haiti. It had a population of about 31,000 at the 2003 census. It is relatively isolated from the rest of the country. The Grande-Anse River flows near the ...
, his mother's hometown. He moved to Port-au-Prince to pursue a higher education and attend Law School. He was strongly influenced during those years by his uncle and mentor Pierre Hudicourt, with whom he lived, and who was a lawyer and Senator. He became politically active during the 1920s, becoming known as a gifted orator and contributor to leftist publications. When he graduated from law school, he worked in his uncle's law firm. In 1933 occupying US Marines sought to rid Haiti of Marxist influence, launching a campaign for "The Suppression of Bolshevist Activities". Hudicourt was arrested, tried, and sentenced to three months in prison for purportedly being a communist along with
Jacques Roumain Jacques Roumain (June 4, 1907 – August 18, 1944) was a Haitian writer, politician, and advocate of Marxism. He is considered one of the most prominent figures in Haitian literature. The African-American poet, Langston Hughes, translated some of ...
. After his trial, Hudicourt made clear that while he identified the ideology's principles he was not personally a communist. A hunger strike and international attention won him and Roumain early releases from prison. He continued to be an outspoken dissident against President
Sténio Vincent Sténio Joseph Vincent (February 22, 1874 – September 3, 1959) was President of Haiti from November 18, 1930 to May 15, 1941. Biography Sténio Vincent was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. His parents were Benjamin Vincent and Iramène Brea, w ...
, who he felt betrayed Haiti's nationalist movement by allying with the United States after the Marines withdrew. When Vincent declared his regime a dictatorship in 1938, Hudicourt helped organize a large demonstrations to which the authorities responded with severe repression. As protest leaders were rounded up and jailed, Hudicourt narrowly escaped arrest by fleeing to New York. When he returned two years later after
Élie Lescot Antoine Louis Léocardie Élie Lescot (December 9, 1883 – October 20, 1974) was the President of Haiti from May 15, 1941 to January 11, 1946. He was a member of the country's mixed-race elite. He used the political climate of World War II to s ...
succeeded Vincent in the presidency, he was immediately put under police surveillance. In 1941 he criticized a police chief while campaigning for a congressional seat. The police attacked him, beating him up, and Hudicourt was again exiled to the Dominican Republic and then New York. He returned in 1942 after negotiations and was allowed to print a daily socialist newspaper called ''La Nation''. He financed the paper from his own funds, raised from a small
Pétion-Ville Pétion-Ville ( ht, Petyonvil) is a commune and a suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in the hills east and separate from the city itself on the northern hills of the Massif de la Selle. Founded in 1831 by president Jean-Pierre Boyer, it was named af ...
moviehouse he co-owned. It became the longest running Marxist daily in Haitian history and was widely circulated among literate urban workers. Hudicourt accepted a minor diplomatic post in the Haitian government but subsequently refused to fulfill it in protest of President Lescot's dictates. Lescot barred him from the country. ''La Nation'' was shut down for "sowing hate and fomenting troubles". As Haitian police and the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
kept close watch on the faltering Haitian leftist movement, Hudicourt continued his political activity from exile in
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
, New York. He attacked the Lescot government and US policy in the Caribbean and networked with other progressive intellectuals. His works from exile include "Haiti Faces Tomorrow's Peace" (1945) and "The Triumph of Fascism: Or the Haitian-American Mutual Responsibilities in Haitian Affairs" (1945).Mitchell's West Indian Bibliography
After Lescot was exiled amidst a popular revolution, Hudicourt returned to lead Parti Socialiste Populaire (Haiti) (PSP)". In 1946 he was elected as the PSP's candidate to Haiti's Chamber of Deputies, becoming the only sitting socialist politician. He was part of a 1947 failed high-level delegation to the United States to secure the forgiveness of occupation-era loans and debts. In May of that year, Hudicourt was found slumped at his desk with a gunshot wound to his chest and revolver in hand. His apparent suicide was a total surprise to his allies in the PSP. Theories abounded that he was assassinated by political opponents or US agents, but his close friends said his death was the coda to a severe month-long depression. A draft article for ''La Nation'' naming corrupt civil and military officials lay on his desk. Some months later the newspaper was raided and sacked by the Haitian police. His brother and other socialists assumed leadership of the PSP, which continued to spearhead leftist opposition to the Haitian government. He married twice, to Marie Bellegarde (daughter of his next door neighbor,
Dantès Bellegarde Dantès Bellegarde (18 May 1877 – 16 June 1966) was a Haitian historian and diplomat. He is best known for his works ''Histoire du Peuple Haïtien'' (1953), ''La Résistance Haïtienne'' (1937), ''Haïti et ses Problèmes'' (1943), and ''Pour un ...
) and Julie Bartoli but left no children from either wife.


References

* Smith, Matthew J.
Red & Black in Haiti: Radicalism, Conflict, and Political Change, 1934-1957
'' Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hudicourt, Max Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Haiti) 1907 births 1947 deaths People from Port-au-Prince Popular Socialist Party (Haiti) politicians Haitian exiles