Félix Morisseau-Leroy

Haitian writer (1912–1998)

Félix Morisseau Leroy (13 March 1912 – 5 September 1998) was a Haitian writer who used Haitian Creole to write poetry and plays, the first significant writer to do so. By 1961 he succeeded in having Creole recognized as an official language of Haiti, after expanding its teaching in schools and use in creative literature. Morisseau also published works on French, Haitian Creole and Haitian French literature. He worked internationally, encouraging the development of national literature in post colonial Ghana and Senegal. In 1981 he settled in Miami, Florida, where he was influential in uniting the Haitian community around Creole and encouraged its study in academia.

Born in Grand Gosier, Haiti, in 1912 to an educated, well to do mulatto family, Morisseau Leroy studied in nearby Jacmel, where he was educated in French and English. There he met his future wife Renée, who admired his skills as a horseman.

Morisseau Leroy married Renée in Jacmel, and always said she inspired his poetry. They had two sons and a daughter. The rise of Papa Doc Duvalier's autocratic regime shut down many of the most promising writers, as he was threatened by free expression. According to one story, Duvalier sent armed forces to escort Morisseau to the airport and force him into exile because he was offended by his work. Only the fact that they were former classmates and friends probably saved Morisseau's life. Morisseau Leroy was invited to France to produce Wa Kreyon in Paris. The 13 March 1992 issue of Finesse magazine (published in New York) was a collective tribute to Morisseau's 80th birthday. In 1994 the French journal Sapriphage devoted a special edition to his work called Haiti's Presence.