Raymond Joseph
| Raymond Joseph | |
|---|---|
| Haitian Ambassador to the United States | |
|
In office 2005–2010 |
|
| Preceded by | Jean Casimir |
| Succeeded by | Louis Harold Joseph |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 31, 1931 San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic |
| Alma mater | Wheaton College, University of Chicago |
Raymond Alcide Joseph (born August 31, 1931) is a Haitian diplomat, political activist and journalist. He was the Haitian ambassador to the United States from 2005 to 2010, when he resigned to present himself as a candidate in the 2010 Presidential Election in Haiti. He is related to the singer and rapper Wyclef Jean (Jean's mother is Joseph's first cousin).
Joseph was born on August 31, 1931, in San Pedro de Macorís,Dominican Republic and lived in a batey (a sugar worker's town), whose family was originally from Les Cayes. He spent his early years surrounded by Christian missionaries. At birth, Joseph was refused Dominican citizenship in several attempts. Following the genocide of over 10,000 Haitians at the border due to the Parsley Massacre imposed by dictator Rafael Trujillo, his father moved him and his brother back to Haiti, where Haitian citizenship was acquired. By age 10, in addition to Spanish, he was fluent in his native Haitian Creole, French, and English. In 1954, he volunteered as an interpreter for a Baptist preacher, who assisted Joseph in coming to the United States. Joseph enrolled in the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois in 1954. Joseph remained in Chicago and later earned a BA in Anthropology from Wheaton College.
During his time in Chicago, Joseph became fluent in Hebrew and Greek. After graduating he returned to Haiti and created the first translation of the New Testament and Psalms into Haitian Creole.
In 1957, the dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier was elected President of Haiti, and Joseph became increasingly uncomfortable with the government. Joseph returned to the United States in 1961 and enrolled in the University of Chicago where he earned an MA in Social Anthropology in 1964.
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