Odette Roy Fombrun celebrates her 104th birthday on June 13

Nurse, novelist and renowned educator Odette Roy Fombrun, this national icon, celebrates her 104th birthday on June 13, 2021.

At 104, she is still on her feet and can take care of her own personal affairs. Her voice is still firm, as if she were 20 years old.

Best known for her experienced writing in school books, children’s literature, detective novels and history books, Ms. Fombrun has devoted her entire life to education.

Mother of five children, this gray-haired woman was born in Port-au-Prince on June 13, 1917. In 1935, she graduated from the Ecole Normale d’Institutrice. It was she who founded the first preschool in Haiti (1946).

In 1945, Odette Roy Fombrun left for the United States to pursue her studies in nursing.

Visiting Cuba in 1953, the doyenne took courses in flower arranging in Fidèle Castro’s country. Back in Haiti, she founded the first flower shop.

A member of the Société d’histoire et de géographie, Odette Roy Fombrun is also an activist. She is an advocate of civic education and early childhood.

Although she was exiled under the dictatorial Duvalier regime, the educator chose to return to the fold to serve her country. Odette was a member of the commission responsible for drafting the 1987 constitution.

The activist made a number of pertinent proposals. She suggested that civic service should be compulsory, and opted for the creation of a conciliation commission and an academy to regulate the structure of Haitian Creole.

For over 60 years, the centenarian has cooperated with the Deschamps publishing house and printing works.

In 2017, on the occasion of her 100th birthday, she was guest of honor at livre en Folie alongside Makenzy Orcel.