Coriolan Ardouin was a Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

an romantic poet

Romantic poetry

Romanticism, a philosophical, literary, artistic and cultural era which began in the mid/late-1700s as a reaction against the prevailing Enlightenment ideals of the day , also influenced poetry...

. Ardouin left only one work before his early death: a compilation of poems entitled Reliques d'un Poète Haïtien (Relics of a Haitian Poet), published posthumously in 1837.

Born in Port-au-Prince

Port-au-Prince

Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....

, Ardouin lived a life of tragedy. As he was born, his two-year-old brother lay dying in another room. He was orphaned at age 15 and subsequently lost his older sister as well. His wife died after five months of marriage and his own death followed soon after. A legend tells that a black butterfly landed on Ardouin's cradle at his birth, a bad omen signaling the miseries to come.

Coriolan Ardouin's brothers, Beaubrun

Beaubrun Ardouin

Alexis Beaubrun Ardouin was a Haitian historian and politician. He is best remembered for his eleven-volume Etudes sur l'Histoire d'Haïti , published in 1865. His Etudes have served as a valuable resource for later historians...

 and Céligny

Céligny Ardouin

Charles Céligny Ardouin was a Haitian politician and historian. He served as a Delegate in 1846, Senator, and Minister of the Interior in 1847. In 1847 he also served on the Council of Secretaries of State...

, were well-known as historians and politicians. The three Ardouin brothers, along with the Nau brothers, Emile

Emile Nau

Emile Nau was a Haitian historian and politician. Born in Port-au-Prince, Nau's most famous work is Histoire des Caciques d'Haïti, a history of the "Caciques", or native inhabitants, of Haiti. Nau was the co-editor of two important magazines, Le Républicain and L'Union, which were published by his...

 and Ignace

Ignace Nau

Ignace Nau was a Haitian poet and storyteller. Born in Port-au-Prince, Nau studied in a renowned military school in Haiti before attending the Catholic University of New York. After returning to Haiti, Nau founded a literary society named "The School of 1836" with his brother, Emile Nau, and the...

, were members of the literary society "The School of 1836," which was founded by Ignace Nau