Ertha Pascal-Trouillot
Encyclopedia
Ertha Pascal-Trouillot was the provisional President of Haiti
from 1990 through 1991. She was the first woman in Haitian history to hold that office.
Dumornay) was a seamstress and embroiderer. Pascal-Trouillot was the 9th of 10 children and when she was 10, she and one of her brothers went to the Lycée François Duvalier and was mentored by her future husband, Ernst Trouillot, who was 21 years her senior. In 1971, she received her law degree
from the École de Droit des Gonaives in Port-au-Prince. From 1975 through 1988, she held various positions as a judge in the Haitian federal courts until she became the first woman justice of the Haitian Supreme Court.
won with 67% of the vote. On 6 January 1991 a coup attempt seeking to pre-empt an Aristide presidency took place, when Roger Lafontant
, a Tonton Macoute
leader under Duvalier, seized the provisional President Ertha Pascal-Trouillot and declared himself President. After large numbers of Aristide supporters filled the streets in protest and Lafontant attempted to declare martial law, the Army crushed the incipient coup.
Aristide had Pascal-Trouillot arrested under charges of complicity in the January attempted coup d'état. She was released the next day after U.S. intervention in Port-au-Prince. The U.S. demanded a lift on the ban on departure. Pascal-Trouillot left the country shortly after, but returned more than a year later. Since then, she lives away from the public eye and is currently working on drafting volumes of the Biographical Dictionary of Haïti.
President of Haiti
The President of the Republic of Haiti is the head of state of Haiti. Executive power in Haiti is divided between the president and the government headed by the Prime Minister of Haiti...
from 1990 through 1991. She was the first woman in Haitian history to hold that office.
Background
Her father, Thimocles, was an iron worker, and died when she was young. Her mother Louise (néeNEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Dumornay) was a seamstress and embroiderer. Pascal-Trouillot was the 9th of 10 children and when she was 10, she and one of her brothers went to the Lycée François Duvalier and was mentored by her future husband, Ernst Trouillot, who was 21 years her senior. In 1971, she received her law degree
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from the École de Droit des Gonaives in Port-au-Prince. From 1975 through 1988, she held various positions as a judge in the Haitian federal courts until she became the first woman justice of the Haitian Supreme Court.
Provisional President
Pascal-Trouillot was chief justice when she temporarily became Haïti's first female president on March 13, 1990 following a revolt that overthrew the government run by Prosper Avril. General Herard Abraham remained in charge for three days, and then transferred the power to Ertha Trouillot. As provisional head, her job was to coordinate the transition to democracy with the Council of State, which had veto power over her. She oversaw the first truly free elections in Haiti on December 16 1990 (Haitian general election, 1990–1991), which Jean-Bertrand AristideJean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian former Catholic priest and politician who served as Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in 1982 after completing his studies...
won with 67% of the vote. On 6 January 1991 a coup attempt seeking to pre-empt an Aristide presidency took place, when Roger Lafontant
Roger Lafontant
Roger Lafontant is the former leader of the Tonton Macoutes and the former Minister of dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier. He was the leader of an attempted coup d'état on January 1991, in Haiti, an effort which ultimately lead to his death....
, a Tonton Macoute
Tonton Macoute
Tonton Macoutes was a Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by President François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier. In 1970, the militia was officially renamed the Milice de Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale .Haitians called this force the “Tonton Macoutes,” after the Haitian Creole mythological...
leader under Duvalier, seized the provisional President Ertha Pascal-Trouillot and declared himself President. After large numbers of Aristide supporters filled the streets in protest and Lafontant attempted to declare martial law, the Army crushed the incipient coup.
Aristide had Pascal-Trouillot arrested under charges of complicity in the January attempted coup d'état. She was released the next day after U.S. intervention in Port-au-Prince. The U.S. demanded a lift on the ban on departure. Pascal-Trouillot left the country shortly after, but returned more than a year later. Since then, she lives away from the public eye and is currently working on drafting volumes of the Biographical Dictionary of Haïti.