Léon Compère-Léandre

Who was Léon Compère-Léandre?

Léon Compère-Léandre was a shoemaker in Saint-Pierre on the French Caribbean island of Martinique when Mount Pelée erupted on May 8, 1902 and destroyed the town. He is one of only 2 known survivors.

His own description of the morning of 8 May 1902 follows.

"I felt a terrible wind blowing, the earth began to tremble, and the sky suddenly became dark. I turned to go into the house, with great difficulty climbed the three or four steps that separated me from my room, and felt my arms and legs burning, also my body. I dropped upon a table. At this moment four others sought refuge in my room, crying and writhing with pain, although their garmets showed no sign of having been touched by flame. At the end of 10 minutes one of these, the young Delavaud girl, aged about 10 years, fell dead; the others left. I got up and went to another room, where I found the father Delavaud, still clothed and lying on the bed, dead. He was purple and inflated, but the clothing was intact. Crazed and almost overcome, I threw myself on a bed, inert and awaiting death. My senses returned to me in perhaps an hour, when I beheld the roof burning.