author
Edgar La Selve
1849–1892
A French writer and humanist, he is best remembered for his vivid books on Haiti and for the curiosity that carried him far beyond provincial France. His life was short, but his work opened a window onto the Caribbean in the late nineteenth century.
1 Audiobook
Haïti De Aarde en haar volken, Jaargang 1881
by Edgar La Selve
About the author
Born in Lalinde, in France's Dordogne region, in 1849, Edgar La Selve became known as a writer, teacher, and humanist. Sources agree that he spent important years in Haiti after arriving there in the early 1870s, where he worked as a professor of rhetoric in Port-au-Prince.
That experience shaped much of his writing. He wrote travel and social studies focused on Haiti, including Le Pays des nègres and La République d'Haïti, and later published Le Général Cocoyo. He was also linked to the Revue exotique, reflecting a broader literary and educational interest in the wider world.
La Selve died in Paris in 1892 at just 42 years old. Though not widely known today, his books remain of interest for readers curious about nineteenth-century French writing, Caribbean history, and the way travel could transform an author's voice.