Laënnec Hurbon (sometimes anglicised as Laennec Hurbon; born 1940) is a

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

an sociologist and writer specialising in the relationships between

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

in the Caribbean region. He is also a Catholic theologian and ex-priest turned researcher and writer.

Career

Hurbon was born in

Jacmel Jacmel (; ) is a commune in southern Haiti founded by the Spanish in 1504 and repopulated by the French in 1698. It is the capital of the department of Sud-Est, 24 miles (39 km) southwest of Port-au-Prince across the Tiburon Peninsula, and ...

, a commune in southern

. He is

Doctor of Theology Doctor of Theology (, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equivalent to the Doctor o ...

(

Institut Catholique de Paris The Institut catholique de Paris (, abbr. ICP), known in English as the Catholic University of Paris (and in Latin as ''Universitas catholica Parisiensis''), is a private university located in Paris, France. History: 1875–present The Institut ...

) and Sociology (

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

), director of research at

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

and professor at the

Quisqueya University Quisqueya University (), founded in 1988, is a private Haitian university located in Port-au-Prince. The coordinator of the university's establishment and its first rector, from 1990 to 1995, was Jacques-Édouard Alexis who became Prime Minister ...

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

, of which he is one of the founding members. Today he focuses on the relationships between religion, culture and politics in the Caribbean region and has written many books on

Haitian Vodou Haitian Vodou () is an African diasporic religions, African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West Africa, West and ...

. His notable publications are the (1972) and (1987), which have been described as "two classics" of the author; and the "small 'big book'" – (1993; US ed. – '' Voodoo: Search for the Spirit''), which is a heavily illustrated pocket book from

Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003, it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by G ...

's " Découvertes"

collection Collection or Collections may refer to: Computing * Collection (abstract data type), the abstract concept of collections in computer science * Collection (linking), the act of linkage editing in computing * Garbage collection (computing), autom ...

. He also edited a collective work entitled (2014).

Publications

Publications by Hurbon

* ''Dieu dans le Vaudou haïtien.'' Éditions Payot, 1972 * ''Culture et dictature en Haïti : l'imaginaire sous contrôle.'' L'Harmattan, 1979 * ''Le Barbare imaginaire.'' Éditions Henri Deschamps, 1987 * ''Comprendre Haïti : Essai sur l'État, la nation, la culture.'' Karthala, 1987 * ''Le phénomène religieux dans la Caraïbe.'' Karthala, 1989 * ''Les mystères du vaudou.'' Collection "

Découvertes Gallimard (, ; in United Kingdom: ''New Horizons'', in United States: ''Abrams Discoveries'') is an Collection (publishing), editorial collection of Book illustration, illustrated monographic books published by the Éditions Gallimard in Pocket edition, ...

" (nº 190). série Religions. Éditions Gallimard, 1993 ** '' Voodoo: Truth and Fantasy'', 'New Horizons' series. Thames & Hudson, 1995. UK edition ** ''Voodoo: Search for the Spirit'', "Abrams Discoveries" series. Harry N. Abrams, 1995. U.S. edition

Publication edited by Hurbon

* ''Catastrophes et environnement : Haïti, séisme du 12 janvier 2010.'' Éditions de l'

EHESS The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (, EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conjo ...

, 2014. Various authors.

Interviews with Hurbon

A crise do Haiti é reflexo da corrupção com endosso internacional. Entrevista especial com Laënnec Hurbon
2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurbon, Laënnec 1940 births Living people Haitian sociologists Sociologists of religion Institut Catholique de Paris alumni Paris-Sorbonne University alumni The New York Review of Books people Haitian Vodou researchers Haitian Roman Catholic priests Haitian expatriates in France People from Jacmel 20th-century Roman Catholic theologians 21st-century Roman Catholic theologians