Haitian activist, scholar Jean-Claude Bajeuz dies

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Bajeux fought against the 29-year rule of the father-and-son Duvalier dynasty and went on to serve as culture minister during the first term of former President Aristide...

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A longtime Haitian human rights activist, scholar and former culture minister has died.

A relative says the 79-year-old Jean-Claude Bajeux died Friday of lung cancer at his home in the hills above Port-au-Prince.

Bajeux fought against the 29-year rule of the father-and-son Duvalier dynasty and went on to serve as culture minister during the first term of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Bajeux later became a vocal critic of Aristide during the leader’s second term.

Bajeux received a PhD from Princeton University in literature and taught Caribbean literature at the University of Puerto Rico. He also wrote a book of poetry and an anthology of literature in Haitian Creole.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

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