The Marine who was "crowned king" and Queen Ti Memenne (La Gonâve, 1926–31)
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingOpen: not yet proven
Year: 1926 · Places: Ayiti, South America
SUMMARYThe Marine who was "crowned king" and Queen Ti Memenne (La Gonâve, 1926–31) [Connections: Ayiti spirit, first-person, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDMarine Sgt. Faustin Wirkus, part of the occupying force, was reputedly crowned "Faustin II" on July 18, 1926 in a Vodou ritual on La Gonâve, and ruled jointly with Queen Ti Memenne until 1929. His book The White King of La Gonave (Doubleday, Doran, 1931; with Dudley Taney; introduction by Seabrook) followed, plus a 1933 film short, Voodoo. Ti Memenne (1868–1934), queen from 1912, was seen by the island's people as their political and spiritual leader; she believed Wirkus was the reincarnation of Faustin Soulouque. HOSTILE/SENSATIONAL witness (an occupier marketing his story)
PATTERNThe occupier's book is the main surviving English account of a Haitian woman's spiritual-political rule
LENS (WW9)A real queen and spiritual leader, recorded mainly as the backdrop to a white man's adventure
OPENFind Haitian/oral accounts of Ti Memenne
SOURCEFaustin E. Wirkus, Wikipedia; Ti Memenne, Wikipedia.