NASSAU, The Bahamas, Jan. 02, 2015, CNS – The Bahamas on Friday remembered cultural icon, Maureen Duvalier, ahead of an official funeral service on Sunday.
A memorial service was held in honour of Duvalier, the niece of the one-time Haitian President Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier.
Ms. Duvalier died on December 19 and the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture described her as “an entertainer extraordinaire.
“She was known as “Bahama Mama” and “Calypso Mama” and hailed as a pioneer of Junkanoo,” the ministry said of the 88-year-old who in 1958 made history as the first woman with a Junkanoo group.
In 2004 she was invested with the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE). She was inducted into the Junkanoo Legends Circle in 2007.
