Bellegarde, Luis Dantès (1877–1966)

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Bellegarde, Luis Dantès (1877–1966)

Luis Dantès Bellegarde (b. 18 May 1877; d. 14 June 1966), Haitian educator, politician, diplomat, and author. A native of Port-au-Prince, Bellegarde taught at the secondary and university levels before entering politics. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs around 1905 and was minister of public instruction and agriculture in 1918–1921. In 1950 he was president of the Constituent Assembly. Bellegarde's diplomatic activity included service as ambassador to France and the Vatican (appointed 1921) and as ambassador to the United States (appointed 1931) and to the United Nations.

Bellegarde was coauthor of almost twenty books on Haitian history, politics, and sociology. Among them are La nation haïtienne (1938), written with Sténio Vincent, and Haïti et son peuple (1953), written with Mercer Cook.

Bellegarde remains controversial for his pro-French, Christian, and Western views. Nevertheless, his contributions to Haitian social thought; foreign, financial, and economic policy; and education are clear. He died in Port-au-Prince.

See alsoHaiti .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Paul Blanchet, "Sur la tombe de Dantès Bellegarde," in La Nouvelliste, 17 June 1966.

Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, In the Shadow of Powers: Dantès Bellegarde in Haitian Social Thought (1985).

                                           Anne Greene

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Bellegarde, Luis Dantès (1877–1966)

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