Ertha Pascal-Trouillot

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Provisional President of Haiti
Ertha Pascal-Trouillot
In office March 13, 1990 – February 7, 1991
Preceded by	Hérard Abraham
Succeeded by	Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Born	August 13, 1943 Pétionville, Haiti
Spouse	Ernst Trouillot
Relations	Thimocles Pascal and Louise (Dumornay) Pascal
Children	Yantha
Occupation	Haitian Supreme Court Judge, 1988
Website	[1]

Ertha Pascal-Trouillot(pronounced AIR-tah pas-CAL TRUE-yohng) (August 13, 1943 in Petionville, a wealthy suburb of Port-au-Prince) is the first and only woman to date to have held the post of President of the Republic of Haïti. She held the position of provisional President of Haïti for nearly a year, from 1990 to 1991.

Her father, Thimocles, was an iron worker, and died when she was young. Her mother Louise (maiden name Dumornay) was a seamstress and embroiderer. She was the 9th of 10 children and when she was 10, she and one of her brothers went to the Lycée François Duvalier in her home town of Petionville where she got the equivalent of a high school education and was mentored by her future husband, Ernst Trouillot, who was 21 years her senior. In 1971, she received her law degree from the École de Droit des Gonaives in Port-au-Prince, Haïti. From 1975-1988, she held various positions as a judge in the Haĭtian federal courts until she became the 1st woman justice of theHaïtian Supreme Court.^[1]

Pascal-Trouillot was chief justice when she temporarily became Haïti's first female president on March 13, 1990 following a military coup in which general Herard Abraham overthrew the government run by Lieutenant General Prosper Avril and then immediately agreed to give up power. At her inauguration, she vowed to implement democracy. In January 1991 her government was nearly overthrown in a coup d'etat where she was allegedly kidnapped by Roger Lafontant, former Duvalier security officer, and forced to read a statement over Haïtian television announcing Lafontant as her successor. Lafontant was forced to flee when riots erupted throughout the nation [2]. In February 1991 she gave up the post of president as elections had been held and Jean-Bertrand Aristide was sworn in.

Aristade had Pascal-Trouillot arrested under charges of complicity in the coup d'etat of January 7. She was released the next day after U.S. intervention in Port-au-Prince. U.S. demanded a lift on theban on departure. Pascal-Trouillot left the country shortly after, to return more than a year later. Since, she lives away from the collimator of press and is currently working on drafting volumes of the Biographical Dictionary of Haïti. ^[2]

Other facts: She was crowned by the Alliance Française which made her a Lauréate. She is also a member of the Association of Writers of the French Language. On March 15, 1990, two thieve snatched her purse. She went up to one of them and demanded, "give me my purse." Her Brother Alix was paralyzed from the waist down by a bullet from Duvalier supporters.^[3] She has written 6 books including: Encyclopedie Bibliographique Code de Lois Usuelles Au Grand Boulevard de la Liberté: Souvenir d'un Périple Privilégié aux Étas-Unis Rétrospectives Code de Lois Usuelles Mis á Jour Analyse de la Législation Révisant le Statitude la Femme Mariée: le Décrit...

Preceded by Herard Abraham	President of Haïti 1990-1991	Succeeded by Jean-Bertrand Aristide

v • d • e Haitian Post-Duvalier Heads of State (1986-present)

Namphy · Manigat · Namphy · Avril · Abraham · Pascal-Trouillot · Aristide · Cédras · Nérette · Bazin (provisional) · Aristide · Jonassaint (provisional) · Aristide · Préval (provisional) · Aristide · Alexandre · Préval