Toussaint Louverture

Toussaint Louverture was the leading general and governor of revolutionary Saint-Domingue before his arrest by French forces in 1802.

Born enslaved in Saint-Domingue, Louverture became free before the revolution and rose through military and political leadership after the uprising of 1791. He shifted alliances as France abolished slavery, defeated foreign armies and governed the colony under a constitution. Napoleon’s expedition arrested and deported him, and he died in France in 1803.

Island Beneath the Sea follows fictional enslaved and planter families through the revolution in which Louverture became the most prominent leader. His changing authority shapes the world through which Zarité and the Valmorains attempt to survive and escape.