Last Surviving Slave
The last person known to have lived as a slave in the Seychelles, Japhet Alice (nee Africaine) died a free Seychelles citizen in 1956, after a long and adventurous life. Although so little is known about her, i...
Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke
There are times when the right man is in the right place, to allow him to make a difference in the world. Sir Percy Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke, Governor of Seychelles from 1947 to 1951, was such a man. Shortly after ...
The French History of the Seychelles
Just because human beings grow up in a particular town, state, or country does not mean they are fully versed in the history of the place they call home. Many people familiar with the island nation of Seychelle...
Pirate Olivier Levasseur – La Buse
Pirates, buried treasure, clues hidden in a cryptogram, mysterious carvings on granite sea rocks and bodies buried on a remote tropical island – what could be more filled with adventure? Almost three centuries ...
Louisiana Creole French – Boundary of the Francophone area
Cursory statements about French in Louisiana usually list three separate varieties: “French”. French, Cajun French and Creole French. While very broadly speaking these distinctions, pertain, the actual situatio...
Jacques Stephen Alexis – Haitian Author and Political Activist
Jacques Stephen Alexis is one of Haiti's best known authors and political activist. He was born in 1922, the son of an established writer and diplomat, Stephen Alexis. His father's career as a diplomat and hist...
Allen Broussard – Husband, Father, Judge and Gumbo Master Chef
Allen Broussard broke a number of barriers in his judicial career. He was among the first African-Americans accepted at Boalt Hall School of Law, became the first African-American to serve as President of the C...
Aleksander Pushkin
“I’ve lived to bury my desires, And see my dreams corrode with rust;
Now all that’s left are fruitless fires That burn my empty heart to dust.”
-- A. Pushkin
Aleksander Pushkin is revered in Russia - and throu...
Joseph Laroche – The Only Black Man to Die on the Titanic
This article tells the story of Joseph Laroche's death on the Titanic and the survival of his wife and children. It explores the significance of Laroche being the only black man to die in the oceanic disaster, ...
Justine Elie – His Journey as a Haitian Composer
Justin Elie is best known as a Haitian composer, whose journey took him from Haiti to France and the United States, and then back to Haiti again towards the end of his life. He was born in Cap-Haitien on 1st Se...
Exploring the Religion of Vodou
Voodoo, more accurately spelled Vodou, is perhaps the most demonized religion in the world. Its followers are branded as devil worshipers and occultists. Kreol explores the truth about Vodou in a simple, unders...
La diaspora et le renouveau du tourisme en Haiti
Autant il n’est pas aisé d’associer diaspora et tourisme du fait que le premier est marqué par la contrainte du départ et l’affliction alors que le deuxième incarne l’intention et l’agrément (Saghi, 2011), auta...
The origins of Louisiana Creole Culture
From the cobblestone streets of New Orleans to the moss-laden bayous in the southeast, Creole culture has a long and fascinating history in Louisiana. Rooted primarily in French, Spanish, African and Native Ame...
Seychelles’ First Postage Stamps: The Beginning of a Separate Identity
From the earliest days of colonization, Seychelles was viewed as part and parcel with its neighboring island nation of Mauritius. When the French began colonizing the islands in 1770, commands and directives ca...
Unraveling the Myth of the Roc
Human history is littered with stories that confuse and boggle the mind. Those who live life with their feet firmly planted in science have a difficult time wrapping their head around the mythological stories o...