Jacquotte Delahaye

Who is Jacquotte Delahaye?

Jacquotte Delahaye, was a French pirate, or buccaneer, active in the Caribbean sea. Alongside Anne Dieu-Le-Veut, she was one of very few female buccaneers.

Jacquotte Delahaye reportedly came from present day Haiti, and was the daughter of a French father and a Haitian mother. Her mother is said to have died in childbirth. Her brother suffered from mild retardation, and was left in her care after her father's death. According to legend and tradition, she became a pirate after the murder of her father.

Jacquotte Delahaye is the subject of many legendary stories. To escape her pursuers, she faked her own death and took on a male alias, living as a man for many years. Upon her return, she became known as "back from the dead red" because of her striking red hair.

She led a gang of hundreds of pirates, and with their help took over a small Caribbean island in the year of 1656, which was called a "freeboter republic". Several years later, she died in a shootout while defending it.