68 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Felix H. Suau, the U.S. consul in Guadeloupe, was only 27 and had served for just three years when he perished in the earthquake of 1843. BY SÉBASTIEN PERROT-MINNOT Sébastien Perrot-Minnot, PhD, is an archaeologist, a member of the Guadeloupe Historical Society, and a member of the board of the Martinique Historical Society. In addition, he is honorary consul emeritus of Guatemala, a member of the board of the Union of Honorary Consuls in France, and an associate member of AFSA. The story of how Thomas T. Prentis, U.S. consul in St. Pierre, Martinique, died in the volcanic disaster of May 8, 1902, is quite famous. The general public, however, knows much less of the story of the other American consul to fall victim to earth’s convulsions in the French West Indies: Felix Henry Suau. He lost his life in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, following the catastrophic earthquake of February 8, 1843, and after having served in his consular duties for nearly three years. I felt it was important to contribute to reviving, through this article, the memory of this dedicated and unfortunate civil servant. The Life and Tragic Fate of a Young U.S. Consul FS HERITAGE e Felix H. Suau was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1815 to French parents who were naturalized American citizens: Pierre “Peter” Suau, from Bordeaux in southwestern France, and Rose Antoinette Champy, a native of Guadeloupe who died in Charleston in 1828. Peter, a merchant, was appointed U.S. consular and commercial agent in Pointe-à-Pitre, the main port of the French colony of Guadeloupe, in 1830 and consul in the same city four years later. He was thus the first official installed by Washington in Pointe-à-Pitre. He served as consul there until his death on May 17, 1838, at the age of 73. To succeed him, U.S. President Martin Van Buren appointed his son, Felix H. Suau, on October 12 of that year. e The corresponding documents were not delivered to the appointee until five months later, however, after the young Suau had written to “a member of Congress.” Further delays were caused by personal problems, notably health, and he did not forward his consular bond to the State Department until January 1840. Leaving Charleston on February 13, 1840, aboard
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