Marie Laveau

Lore & Background

Marie Catherine Laveau was born a free woman of color in New Orleans's French Quarter on September 10, 1801. Her mother, Marguerite D'Arcantel, was a free woman of African, European, and Native American ancestry. Her father was not identified on her baptismal record; possible candidates include Charles Laveau, son of a white Louisiana Creole politician, or a free man of color named Charles Laveaux. On August 4, 1819, she married Jacques Paris, a free man of color from Saint-Domingue. After his reported death, she entered a domestic partnership with Christophe Dominick Duminy de Glapion, with whom she had several children, though only two survived to adulthood.

Reader's Guide

Marie Laveau's significance lies in her role as a Voodoo queen and community leader in 19th-century New Orleans. She used her beauty parlor to gather information from wealthy patrons, enhancing her reputation as a clairvoyant. She provided herbal remedies and prayers during the 1878 yellow fever epidemic, visited prisoners, and sought pardons for those she favored. Her legacy is surrounded by legend, including the tradition of drawing three Xs on her tomb in Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1 to make a wish. Her work is discussed in Zora Neale Hurston's 1935 book 'Mules and Men.' After her death, her daughter Marie Laveau II may have assumed her role. The tomb was vandalized in 2013 with pink latex paint, which was later removed.

Did You Know?

• Marie Laveau is confirmed to have owned at least seven slaves during her lifetime.
• She was known to attend to prisoners sentenced to death, preparing their last meals and praying with them.
• Her daughter, Marie Laveau II, held public St. John's Eve rituals on Bayou St. John.
• In 1982, the punk rock group The Misfits were arrested for allegedly attempting to exhume her grave.