Ella Turenne performing her one-woman play “Love, Locs and Liberation” on Feb. 2, 2017 in the Staller Center at Stony Brook University. Eric Schmid/The Statesman

Emmanuella “Ella” Florence Turenne, an acclaimed Haitian playwright, academic, and activist, died of a heart attack induced by a blood clot on Dec. 25 in Palm Bay, FL. 

Turenne was known as someone who never rested. Since five years of age, the 47-year-old developed her love of theater and so began a long career of creativity and expression.

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Larisa is a reporter for The Haitian Times covering politics, elections and education primarily. A graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, she has interned at CNBC and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network. She is also a recipient of a 2021 DBEI Fellowship by Investigative Reporters & Editors. Larisa can be reached by email at larisa@haitiantimes.com or on Twitter @larisakarr.