colonial dévoilé. This means that the Baron de Vastey, as he is also called, would have been
Oswald Durand’s grandfather. The baron died before Durand’s birth, but Durand does mention
his connection to the Vasteys in an article he wrote about his family origins in the turn-of-the
century Haitian journal, Haïti littéraire et sociale.^182 Although he never personally knew
Pompée Valentin de Vastey, this knowledge of his genealogy, having been born into a literary
elite, surely had an impact on the awareness he had of himself as a writer. Durand also
mentions Alexandre Dumas père, the French playwright whose name is also referenced in
Durand’s collection of poetry. Oswald Durand was distantly related to the Dumas family
because Aricie de Vastey was a cousin to the father of Alexandre Dumas père. It is Durand’s
connection to these two important writers, Pompée Valentin de Vastey and Alexandre Dumas,
that Pradel Pompilus refers to when he speaks of Durand’s “illustre parenté.”^183 This dual
literary legacy, Haitian and French, will later be addressed in analyses of Durand’s collection.
I did not, in my research, find any specific information about the career paths oreconomic status of Durand’s parents. He did have access to education throughout his youth and
childhood. Durand’s mother died when he was two years old after which he lived with a
grandmother in northwestern Haiti and attended primary school in nearby Cap Haitian. Dantès
Bellgarde’s history of Haitian education states that the 1843 constitution had declared education
free but not obligatory to all Haitian children; he does not specify what percentage of Haitian
children actually went to school.^184 Undoubtedly, it was Durand’s years at the Lycée Philippe
Guerrier in Cap Haitian that are most significant, as it was during this time that he became
acquainted with Demesvar Delorme, a teacher and co-founder of this school who would strongly
(^182) Haïti littéraire et sociale [Port-au-Prince] le 20 novembre 1905: 404.
(^183) Durand and Pompilus 12.
(^184) Bellegarde 223-226.