Dédée Bazile

Dédée Bazile, also known as Défilée or Défilée-la-folle, was a Haitian revolutionary and vivandière best known for gathering the remains of Emperor Jean-Jacques Dessalines for burial. Born in Cap-Francais, the then-capital of the French colony of Saint-Domingue, she had six children as a result of rape by her enslaver. In 1796, during the Haitian Revolution, Bazile joined the Army of Saint-Domingue as a vivandière, marching with soldiers and selling provisions to them. Historical accounts claim she exhibited madness, usually attributed to the killing of her parents, brothers, or sons by French troops during the Saint-Domingue expedition, although this characterization has been contested.

Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0