Léon Robert Thébaud, a lawyer and ambassador, was born in

Gonaïves Gonaïves (; also Les Gonaïves; , ) is a commune in northern Haiti, and the capital of the Artibonite department of Haiti. The population was 356,324 at the 2015 census. History The city of Gonaïves was founded around 1422 by a group of T ...

, Haïti, on 5 June 1894 and died in Paris, France. He worked early on with his father in the import trade of building materials. Léon was appointed consul general in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, France, on 13 October 1927. From 1932 to 1937 he was a counsellor at the legation in Paris,

minister plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

in Paris and inspector of consulates of Haiti in Europe from 1937 to 1941. After four years there, Thébaud was transferred in 1941 to Rome, where he represented Haiti as an envoy extraordinary to the Vatican. The occupation of Rome by the German armed forces in September 1943 forced him to step down from this post. He returned to Rome in 1947, and in 1954 once again became Haiti’s minister plenipotentiary in France.¹

Évian Conference

Léon Robert Thébaud attended the

Évian Conference The Évian Conference was convened 6–15 July 1938 at Évian-les-Bains, France, to address the problem of German and Austrian Jewish refugees wishing to flee persecution by Nazi Germany. It was the initiative of United States President Franklin ...

from 6 to 13 July 1938 in

Évian-les-Bains Évian-les-Bains (), or simply Évian (, , or ), is a Communes of France, commune in Eastern France, by the border with Switzerland. It is located in the northern part of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. A high-m ...

, France, to discuss the issue of Jewish refugees escaping Nazi persecution. He attended representing the island nation of Haiti as the commercial attaché in Paris, with the rank of minister.

Haitian history

As Haitian ambassador to France, Léon Thébaud put up a stone cross memorial for

Toussaint Louverture François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (, ) also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda (20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803), was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louvertu ...

on 29 August 1954 at Fort-de-Joux.

References

* * * * ¹ {{DEFAULTSORT:Thebaud, Leon 1894 births Year of death missing People from Gonaïves 20th-century Haitian lawyers Ambassadors of Haiti to France