London Blue Plaque Unveiling for Marie-Louise Christophe
On February 7, 2022, Fanm Rebèl and the Haitian Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain unveiled a Nubian Jak Community Trust blue heritage plaque dedicated to Marie-Louise Christophe and her daughters, Princesses Améthisse and Athénaïre, at their former London residence at 49 Weymouth Street. The Grade II listed building was their last known address in Britain prior to their departure for Europe in September 1824. The initiative was made possible thanks to the generous support of community sponsors, especially to members of the Haitian community in the United Kingdom and in Europe, to the Haitian Embassy in Great Britain, to artists, scholars and activists, and to those invested in the preservation and uplift of Black history and culture.
“This ceremony [celebrates] the memory, traces and commitments of significant figures, including women, who have marked the glorious history of the Haitian nation and contributed to the history of humanity.”
Speakers included Dr Matthew Smith, Professor of History and Director of the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery at University College London, Shodona Kettle, Chair of the Haiti Support Group, Wilford Marous and Michelet Romulus, President and Vice-President of the Haitian Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain, Dr Nicole Willson, Researcher at the University of Central Lancashire and Principal Investigator on the Fanm Rebèl project, Euvrard Saint-Amand, Haitian Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Councillor Andrew Smith, Lord Mayor of Westminster. The event was hosted by Jak Beula of the Nubian Jak Community Trust.
“The story of the Haitian Revolution is not just the story of Haitians. It is the story of an age in which the world was being remade by revolution and migration. That story came to London with Marie-Louise and her daughters.”