Italian Haitians
Italian Haitians (Italian: italo-haitiani; Haitian Creole: italyen ayisyen; French: haïtiens italiens) are Haitians of Italian descent or Italians with Haitian citizenship.
![]() Actress Daphnée Duplaix is of partial Italian descent | |
| Total population | |
| c. 100 (by birth) c. 5,000 (by ancestry) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Port-au-Prince, Pétion-Ville | |
| Languages | |
| Haitian Creole · French · Italian and Italian dialects | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Italians, White Latin Americans, White Haitians |
History
During colonial times only a few italians went to Haiti: most of them were catholic missionaries, with a few merchants and soldiers.
The business sector of Haiti, was controlled by German and Italian immigrants in the mid-19th century.[1] In 1908 there were 160 Italians residing in Haiti, according to the Italian consul De Matteis, of whom 128 lived in the capital Port-au-Prince. [2]
During the 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince, the first Italian recorded dead was 70-year-old Gigliola Martino, who was born in Haiti to Italian parents who emigrated to the country in the early 20th century.[3]
Daphnée Duplaix, an American actress and model born in New York City, is of Haitian and Italian descent.[4][5]
Stella Jean[6] is a fashion designer in Italy whose mother is Haitian and father is Italian.[7]
In 2011, according to the Italian census, there were 134 Italians who were resident in Haiti, nearly all of them living in the capital. However, there were nearly 5,000 Haitians with recent & distant italians roots (according to the Italian embassy).
References
- "History of immigration to Haiti dates to the 19th century". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
- Emigrazione e Colonie; volume 3: "Italiani in Haiti" (1908)
- Gigliola Martino death
- "Daphnee Duplaix Biography". IMDb.
- "Haitian American To Know: Daphnee Duplaix". L'union Suite. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014.
- Stella Jean
- Stella Jean, Italian interview (and photo)
Links
- Hossary, Nagia (Archive article)
Bibliography
- Commissariato dellemigrazione. Emigrazione e colonie, Volume 3: Raccolta di rapporti dei RR. agenti diplomatici e consolari.Tipografia nazionale di G. Bertero & comp. Roma, 1908

