Joseph Laroche
| Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche and family |
|
|---|---|
Joseph (seated right) and his family,
prior to their voyage on the Titanic |
|
| Born |
Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche May 26, 1886 Cap-Haïtien, Haiti |
| Died | April 15, 1912 (aged 25) Atlantic Ocean |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Louise Laroche (Daughter) (pictured above, sitting on father's lap, right) |
|
|---|---|
| Born |
2 July 1910 Paris, France |
| Died | 28 January 1998 (aged 87) Paris, France |
| Parent(s) | Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche and Juliette Marie Louise Lafargue |
Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche (26 May 1886 – 15 April 1912) was a Paris-educated Haitian engineer. He was the only passenger of known African ancestry on the ill-fated voyage of the RMS Titanic. He put his pregnant French wife and their two daughters onto a lifeboat; they survived, but he did not. Joseph's daughter, Louise Laroche (2 July 1910 – 28 January 1998) was one of the last remaining survivors of the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912.
LaRoche, a three-act opera by Atlanta composer Sharon J. Willis, is based on his life and was part of the 2003 National Black Arts Festival, premiering at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center on July 18 of that year.
At the age of 15, Joseph was sent to Beauvais, France to study. After graduating with an engineering degree, he married a French woman named Juliette Lafargue. However, he was unable to find work matching his qualifications due to the color of his skin in a racist society. Tired of living off of his wine seller father-in-law, he decided to return to Haiti with his growing family. His uncle, Cincinnatus Leconte, the President of Haiti, arranged a job for him as a math teacher.
Simonne Marie Anne Andrée Laroche was born in Paris, France, 1909; followed by her sister, Louise Laroche, born on 2 July 1910.
The family planned to leave France in late 1912, but Juliette discovered she was pregnant for a third time, and Joseph decided to bump up their travel arrangements so the child could be born in Haiti.
Joseph's mother purchased first class passage for the family aboard the liner SS France. The Laroches learned of the French Line's policy stipulating that children were required to remain in the nursery and were not permitted to dine with their parents. Disapproving of this policy, they exchanged their tickets for a second-class passage aboard the RMS Titanic.
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Wikipedia