Biography

(Born in Petit-Trou-de-Nippes in 1812; died in Port-au-Prince, 1835)

Coriolan Ardouin’s life was shrouded in misery and marked by loss, the subject of his well-known poem "La Tristesse." According to Berrou, the poet's older brother passed away shortly after Ardouin's birth, and medical issues prevented him from attending school until he was seven years old. Ardouin enrolled at the Institute of Jonathas Granville, where he met and befriended future poet Ignace Nau (Berrou 130-133). As recounted in "La Tristesse," the poet's parents passed away when he was just fifteen years old, thus causing him unfathomable grief. Berrou notes that Ardouin's fascination for writing and poetry took root after high school when he began crafting his own works. A religious man, his faith appears throughout his poetry, as does his love for his wife. Unfortunately, she was already sick when they met, and she died in 1835, five months after their wedding. According to Berrou, Ardouin himself contracted tuberculosis from looking after his wife and died the following year (Berrou 130-133). All of his poetry, or what little was found, was published posthumously in Ignace Nau’s L’Union (Morpeau 49). The 28-page Reliquae d'un poète haïtien edited by Emile Nau in 1837 can be consulted at the Bibliotheque nationale de France and it has be republished in modern editions under the title Poésies complètes.  

Biography by Emeline Frix, 2022

Bibliography

“Ardouin, Coriolan (1812-1835).” Catalogue Général, https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb16205905r.

Berrou Raphaël, and Pradel Pompilus. Histoire de la littérature haïtienne illustrée par les textes. Ed. Caraïbes, 1975.

Dieulermesson Petit Frère, "Dossier Coriolan Ardouin." Web site "Ile en Ile," 2021. In French with a detailed bibliography.

Morpeau, Louis. Anthologie d'un siècle de poésie haïtienne 1817-1925. Bossard, 1924.

Nau, Émile. Reliquae d'un poète haïtien. Impr. de T. Bouchereau, 1837.

Page image: Detail from Victor Hugo, "Le Phare des Casquets" (The Casquets Lighthouse), 1866. Maison de Victor Hugo - Hauteville House  https://www.parismuseescollections.paris.fr/fr/maison-de-victor-hugo/oeuvres/le-phare-des-casquets