George Anglade

George Anglade, distinguished Haitian- Canadian geographer, political activist and author, died on January 12 as a result of injuries sustained during the Haitian earthquake. His wife of 43 years, Mireille Neptune, a vocal feminist, French teacher, and United Nations diplomat, also perished in the disaster. Anglade was born on July 18, 1944. Upon completing degrees in his hometown of Portau- Prince at the École Normale Supérieure and the Faculty of Law, he went on to obtain his PhD at the Center for Applied Geography in Strasbourg, France, in 1965. Anglade subsequently became a professor of social geography at l’Université du Québec à Montreal (UQAM). He retired from that university in 2002. A renowned political activist, Anglade was twice imprisoned and exiled from Haiti under its former dictatorship, but that did not prevent him from maintaining strong ties with his homeland. He not only helped to lead Haiti’s democracy movement but also served as the Minister of Public Works in the Aristide government. He was an advisor to current president René Preval. Anglade liked to define himself as “a man in three pieces” – geographer, politician and writer. As an engaged political writer, he authored more than 30 books (both fiction and non-fiction) in which Haiti occupies a central place. As a writer of short stories, Anglade was known for explosive, comic fiction. He influenced the evolution of modern Haiti and was one of the leading writers produced by the close relationship between Haiti and Canada.

George Anglade (Necrology). 2009. AAG Newsletter 45(2): 12.