“Mwen pa Tisina, tande!” The Creole saying is still alive in Haitian popular memory, and with it the name of Tisina Coriolan, Le Nouvelliste noted in a feature published on October 23.

According to the story passed down over generations, Tisina Coriolan came from Léogâne and became famous after her wedding in 1876, whose costs she is said to have paid herself.

The feature asks what is actually known about the woman whose name became a cultural reference, heard in expressions such as “Bèl fanm kou wè m, m pa ka Tisina.” Much of her story rests on oral tradition, which is why the newspaper presents it with caution.