# Simone Duvalier > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Simone_Duvalier > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Simone_Duvalier.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Duvalier > Source revision: 1280300405 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Former First Lady of Haiti}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}} {{Infobox First Lady | name = Simone Duvalier | birth_name = Simone Ovide | birth_date = 19 March 1913 | birth_place = [Léogâne](/source/L%C3%A9og%C3%A2ne), [Haiti](/source/Republic_of_Haiti_(1859%E2%80%931957)) | death_date = {{death date and age|1997|12|26|1913|3|19|df=yes}} | death_place = [Paris](/source/Paris), [France](/source/France) | office = [First Lady of Haiti](/source/First_Lady_of_Haiti) | president = [François Duvalier](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois_Duvalier)
[Jean-Claude Duvalier](/source/Jean-Claude_Duvalier) | term_label = In role | term_start = 22 October 1957 | term_end = 27 May 1980 | predecessor = [Marie Yvonne Charles Kébreau](/source/Marie_Yvonne_Charles_K%C3%A9breau) | successor = [Michèle Bennett](/source/Mich%C3%A8le_Bennett) | spouse = {{marriage|[François Duvalier](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois_Duvalier)|27 December 1939|21 April 1971|end=d.}} | children = 4, including [Jean-Claude](/source/Jean-Claude_Duvalier) | relations = | alma_mater = | signature = | image = File:Simone Duvalier mama doc.jpg }} '''Simone Duvalier''' ({{IPA|fr|simɔn dyvalje}}; ''[née](/source/Given_name)'' '''Ovide'''; 19 March 1913 – 26 December 1997), also known as '''Mama Doc''', was the wife of Haitian leader [François "Papa Doc" Duvalier](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois_Duvalier) and the [First Lady of Haiti](/source/First_Lady_of_Haiti). ==Early life== She was born Simone Ovide in about 1913 near the Haitian town of [Léogâne](/source/L%C3%A9og%C3%A2ne), the daughter of a [mulatto](/source/mulatto) merchant and writer, [Jules Faine](/source/Jules_Faine), and Célie Ovide, one of the maids in his household. At an early age her mother gave her up, and she spent much of her childhood in an orphanage in [Pétion-Ville](/source/P%C3%A9tion-Ville), an exclusive suburb in the hills above [Port-au-Prince](/source/Port-au-Prince). The orphans were encouraged to acquire vocational skills and Simone Ovide was trained as a [nurse's aide](/source/nurse's_aide). While working as a nurse she met a young doctor named [François Duvalier](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois_Duvalier) (''Papa Doc''). The couple was married on 27 December 1939, and had four children: Marie Denise, Nicole, Simone “Queen”, and Jean-Claude, their only son.{{cite book | last = Abbott | first = Elizabeth | title = Haiti: The Duvaliers and Their Legacy | url = https://archive.org/details/haitiduvaliersth00abbo | url-access = registration | publisher = McGraw-Hill | location = New York | year = 1988 | isbn = 0-07-046029-9 }} ==First Lady== After their marriage, François Duvalier became minister of public health and labor in 1949 and won election to the presidency in 1957. Throughout his 14 years in office, his wife guarded access to her husband and developed and promoted her own palace favorites.{{cite news | last = Rohter| first = Larry | title = Simone Duvalier, Haiti's 'Mama Doc'| work = [New York Times](/source/New_York_Times)| date = 1999-12-31| archivedate=2009-08-05 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20090805175421/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/31/world/simone-duvalier-the-mama-doc-of-haiti.html| accessdate = 2007-12-23|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/31/world/simone-duvalier-the-mama-doc-of-haiti.html}} [http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/haiti/simone-duvalier.htm Alt URL] Because of her acquired status and her imperious bearing, Haitians referred to her as "Mama Doc". She was, like her husband, reported to be a [Vodou](/source/Haitian_Vodou) expert. She cultivated the image of a benefactor; dispensing charity to inhabitants of "Cite Simone", a planned settlement named for her that is known today as [Cité Soleil](/source/Cit%C3%A9_Soleil), one of the most miserable slums in Latin America. Simone Duvalier's influence reached its peak after the death of her husband on 21 April 1971, when her nineteen-year-old son [Jean-Claude Duvalier](/source/Jean-Claude_Duvalier) (''Baby Doc'') succeeded his father as Haiti's "President for Life". Simone Duvalier retained the title of First Lady, and relished the power it conferred. According to a number of her associates, she deeply resented having to relinquish that role after Jean-Claude Duvalier married in 1980 and she was demoted to "Guardian of the [Duvalierist](/source/Duvalier_dynasty) Revolution". ==Exile and death== When her son was ousted from power in February 1986, Simone Duvalier joined him and his wife, [Michèle Bennett](/source/Mich%C3%A8le_Bennett), in exile in France. She was rarely seen in public. After her son's bitter divorce from his wife, Simone Duvalier lived with her son in relative poverty in the suburbs of Paris. She died on 26 December 1997 at the age of 84. ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * {{imdb name |name=Simone Ovide Duvalier|id=8893121 }} {{s-start}} {{s-hon}} {{s-bef|before=Marie Yvonne Charles}} {{s-ttl|title=[First Lady of Haiti](/source/First_Lady_of_Haiti)|years=1957–1980}} {{s-aft|after=[Michèle Bennet](/source/Mich%C3%A8le_Bennet)}} {{s-end}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Duvalier, Simone}} Category:Haitian anti-communists Category:1913 births Category:1997 deaths Category:First ladies and gentlemen of Haiti Category:Haitian exiles Category:Mulatto Haitians Category:Haitian Vodou practitioners Simone --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Simone Duvalier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Duvalier) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Duvalier?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.