Black revolutionary is icon of modern times, say researchers

Researchers at the University of Liverpool are using archive material from around the world to show how an 18th Century slave became a world icon of the modern age.
Toussaint Louverture is famous for fighting for the freedom of black slaves in the Caribbean and defeating the armies of French conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte. Dr Charles Forsdick at the University's School of Modern Languages is searching archives across the world to understand how Toussaint, a black slave from Haiti, has survived in modern popular culture.

More than 5, 000 slave voyages left Liverpool, transporting over a million Africans to the Americas. Next week sees the 214th anniversary of the slave uprising in 1791, in which Toussaint remains a celebrated figure in literature, theatre and art all over the world.

Dr Forsdick said: "What is so fascinating about Toussaint is that he became a mythic figure almost immediately after his death. He was tricked into a meeting with General Brunet in 1802 and as a result was captured and held in a medieval fortress on the French-Swiss border. Here he was left to starve to death and never saw Jean-Jacques Dessalines lead the Haitian slaves to victory over the French." <snip>

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-08/uol-bri081605.php