Jump to content

Family of Pope Leo XIV

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Prevost family
Family
Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost
Place of origin

The family of Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost) is an American family of French, Italian, Spanish and Louisiana Creole descent.[1][2][3][4][5][6] The surname "Prevost" is from a Piedmontese/French cognate[a] of the title "provost", originally from the Latin praepositus '[one] placed in charge'.[7] Leo XIV's paternal grandfather's original family name was the Italian, Riggitano, which the grandfather changed to Prevost—the surname of the pope's French paternal great-grandmother—after settling in the United States.

Background

[edit]

A documentary genealogical study of Pope Leo XIV's family by Henry Louis Gates in collaboration with the American Ancestors genealogy society and the Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami was published in The New York Times in June 2025. Looking at both his maternal and paternal ancestors, the study "so far identified, 40 are from France, 24 are from Italy and 21 are from Spain."[1] The study was able to trace his father's side to Italy and France, and his mother's side to Spain and France. Leo XIV's father's heritage comes from relatively recent immigration to Illinois in the United States from Italy and France. Several of his French ancestors on his mother's side came through French Canada (Quebec), and several of his Spanish ancestors through Havana, Cuba. Over generations, some of them made their way to French Louisiana, Spanish Louisiana or the state of Louisiana (see Louisiana Creole). In Louisiana, at least 17 of his maternal ancestors are described in documents as having some measure of black African heritage (creoles of color), using such terms as mulatto, mulatress, mulâtress créole, free person of color, and quadroon. The pope's maternal grandparents migrated to Illinois from Louisiana in the early 1900s.[1]

Paternal relations

[edit]

Louis Marius Prevost (1920–1997)

[edit]

Leo XIV's father, Louis Marius Prevost (July 28, 1920 – November 8, 1997), was born in Chicago.[8] He was raised at 5465 S. Ellis Avenue in the Hyde Park neighborhood on the city's South Side.[9] He graduated from Woodrow Wilson Junior College in June 1940.[10] Louis Prevost served in the United States Navy during World War II, commanding an infantry landing craft in the Normandy landings and later participated in Operation Dragoon in southern France. By the end of his 15-month deployment, he achieved the rank of lieutenant, junior grade.[8] He received a Master of Arts degree from DePaul University in 1949.[10] He later became superintendent of Brookwood School District 167 in Glenwood, Illinois.[11][12] He was also a catechist.[8]

Paternal grandparents

[edit]
View of Milazzo, Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily region, Italy, the town of origin of the paternal grandfather of Pope Leo XIV.[13] His family name was originally Riggitano, later changed to Prevost once settled in the United States during the first Italian diaspora.[13]
John Prevost (born, Salvatore Giovanni Gaetano Riggitano), the Pope's paternal grandfather

Leo XIV's paternal grandparents were John Prevost (born Salvatore Giovanni Gaetano Riggitano, 1876–1960),[7] a Sicilian immigrant from Milazzo near Messina;[13] and Suzanne Fontaine (1894–1979), a French immigrant who was born in Le Havre, Normandy.[14][15] Riggitano was born on June 24, 1876, to Santi and Maria (née Alioto),[13][16] emigrated to the United States in 1903 during the first Italian diaspora,[17] and settled in Illinois, where he worked as a teacher of music and language.[13] Suzanne Fontaine was born in 1894 to Eugénie (née Prevost)[13] and Ernest Fontaine. Ernest was born on September 17, 1857, in Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives, Normandy region.[18][15]

Riggitano and Fontaine were in a relationship by March 1917, when they were arrested for "unbecoming conduct" following a report from Riggitano's estranged wife, Daisy Hughes; the affair was covered in local newspapers at the time.[13] Fontaine gave birth to her and Riggitano's first son, John Centi—the uncle of Leo XIV—on July 23, 1917, and to Leo XIV's father, Louis, in 1920. The couple gave both boys the surname "Prevost" at birth and adopted it themselves; it had been Fontaine's mother's maiden name. Riggitano also changed his first name to "John". The couple were still together when Riggitano, now John Prevost, died in 1960.[13] Suzanne Prevost died in a Detroit hospital on October 10, 1979, at the age of 83.[18][13] Her death notice recorded that she was a member of the Third Order of Carmelites, a Roman Catholic religious order of laypeople.[13]

Maternal relations

[edit]

Mildred Prevost (1911–1990)

[edit]
Mildred "Millie" Prevost c. 1969

Leo XIV's mother, Mildred Agnes (née Martínez; December 30, 1911[b] – June 18, 1990),[19][20] was born in Chicago to a Louisiana Creole family that had moved from the 7th Ward of New Orleans.[20] After attending Immaculata High School on the North Side of Chicago,[21] she graduated from DePaul University with a bachelor's degree in library science in 1947.[22] She earned a master's degree in education in 1949.[10] She married Louis Prevost, who was eight years younger than her, in her mid-30s. The couple had three sons, Louis, John, and Robert.[21] She was an accomplished singer and performer, having her own recording of the Ave Maria,[21] and competed in the 1941 Chicagoland Music Festival.[10] She worked as an educator and librarian at Von Steuben High School and for Holy Name Cathedral. She was the librarian at Mendel Catholic High School in Roseland, Chicago in the 1970s, and her son, now Leo XIV, later worked there, as well.[23]

Mildred Prevost died from cancer in 1990.[21]

Maternal family

[edit]
Joseph Martínez and Louise Baquié were married at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans.

Leo XIV's maternal grandparents were the Hispaniola-born mixed-race Joseph Martínez (1864–1926), and the New Orleans–born Louise Baquié (also rendered Baquiex; 1868–1945), a mixed-race Black Creole.[4][24][25] Joseph was born to Jacques and Marie Martínez in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (at the time occupied by Haiti). Jacques and Marie were registered on the 1910 United States census as Maltese and Spanish respectively; however, they may have done so to pass as white.[26] Louise was born to Ferdinand Baquié and Eugénie Grambois in New Orleans.[27] Joseph and Louise married on September 17, 1887, at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans.[24][27]

In census documents, Joseph and Louise are variably described as Black or mulatto (mixed-race, of African and European heritage).[28] In the 1900 United States census, when they lived in New Orleans, they are listed as Black. However, in the 1920 United States census after they had moved to Chicago, they are listed as white.[27] Genealogist Chris Smothers speculated that such a change may have been a "survival strategy" if they passed as white.[28]

Joseph and Louise had six daughters: Irma, Marguerite, Lydia, Mildred, Ethel, Louise, and Hilda.[10][29][30] Louise and Hilda would become religious sisters and take the names Sister Mary Sulpice Martinez, R.S.M. and Sister Mary Amarita B.V.M., respectively.[31] Sister Mary Amarita, born November 26, 1906, took her first vows on August 15, 1928, and served as a music teacher in Iowa, Oregon, and Illinois before her 1945 death.[10] Sister Mary Sulpice died in 1999.[29]

Joseph and Louise owned a home in New Orleans's 7th Ward, which was later demolished to construct a highway bypass.[32][28] Some time between 1910 and 1912, the family moved to Chicago.[27] Louise died in November 1945.[33]

Earlier ancestors

[edit]

Ferdinand David Baquié, Leo XIV's great-grandfather, was born in New Orleans on October 10, 1837.[34] He married Eugénie Grambois on September 19, 1864.[35] Ferdinand's mother was Céleste Lemelle, the daughter of Louis Lemelle and Céleste Olimpie Grandpres, who were married in Opelousas, Louisiana, in 1798, and were classified as quadroons, having one-fourth either African or Native American ancestry.[34]

Céleste Olimpie Grandpres was a daughter of Charles Louis Boucher de Grandpre and great-great-granddaughter of Pierre Boucher.[36] Charles's father and Céleste's grandfather was Louis Boucher de Grandpre, born in 1695 in Trois-Rivières, Quebec.[36] It is through Louis Boucher de Grandpre that Leo XIV is related to "numerous" distant cousins with French Canadian ancestry, "including Pierre and Justin Trudeau, Angelina Jolie, Hillary Clinton, Justin Bieber, Jack Kerouac and Madonna."[36]

Louisiana newspaper Avoyelles Journal proposed a theory according to which his great-grandfather Jacques Martínez was the son of Jacques Martino (1806–1852), an Italian immigrant from Sanremo, Liguria (at the time in the First French Empire), and Marguerite Cadeneth (1799–1870), a Creole from East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.[37]

Siblings

[edit]

Leo XIV is the youngest of three brothers.[4]

Louis Prevost in 2025

Louis Prevost

[edit]

Louis Martín Prevost (born 1951)[38] is Leo XIV's eldest brother. He is a Navy veteran who lives in Florida.[8][4] After attending Mendel Catholic High School, graduating in 1969, Louis was drafted into the Navy in college, and later studied computer technology.[30] Louis is a vocal critic of the Democratic Party, having shared numerous posts on Facebook supporting the MAGA movement. He states that he and his brother, Leo XIV, know each other's political views, and they have had disagreements on certain topics.[39] He is married to Deborah Prevost.[40]

John Prevost

[edit]

John Joseph Prevost (born 1953 or 1954)[41] is the middle brother in the Prevost family; he is younger than Louis Prevost, but one year older than Leo XIV.[30] He is a retired educator who lives in New Lenox, Illinois.[8]

He attended Mendel Catholic High School, graduating in 1972.[42] He worked in Catholic schools for 35 years, including 27 years as a principal.[30]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Piedmontese: prevòst, 'priest'; Modern French: prévôt, 'provost'.
  2. ^ The year is disputed; her gravestone lists her birth year as 1912, however baptismal records indicate she was baptized on February 4, 1912 with a birthdate of December 30, 1911.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Gates, Henry Louis (June 11, 2025). "Noblemen, enslaved people, freedom fighters, slaveholders: what the complex family tree of the first American pontiff reveals". The New York Times. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  2. ^ Moral Antón, Alejandro (November 3, 2014). "Robert F. Prevost nombrado Administrador Apostólico en Chiclayo". Orden de San Agustín (in Spanish). Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  3. ^ "Biography of Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost". Vatican News. May 8, 2025. Archived from the original on May 9, 2025. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d FitzPatrick, Lauren (May 3, 2025). "From Chicago's south suburbs to helping choose the next pope". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on May 8, 2025. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
  5. ^ Bosman, Julie; Smith, Mitch (May 8, 2025). "He Grew Up in a Parish on Chicago's South Side. Now He's the Pope". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 8, 2025. Retrieved May 10, 2025.
  6. ^ Ward, Joe; Mercado, Melody; Hernandez, Alex V.; Filbin, Patrick (May 8, 2025). "Pope Leo XIV Named First American Pope — And He's From Chicago". Block Club Chicago. Archived from the original on May 8, 2025. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
  7. ^ a b Serra, Oscar (May 9, 2025). "Prevost, le origini italiane (come Bergoglio) e quel cognome che rimanda al Nord Ovest" [Prevost, the Italian origins (like Bergoglio) and that surname that recalls the North West]. La Stampa (in Italian). Archived from the original on May 9, 2025. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d e Vergun, David (May 9, 2025). "Pope Leo XIV's Father Served in the Navy During World War II". U.S. Department of Defense. Archived from the original on May 10, 2025. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  9. ^ Musick, Morley (May 16, 2025). "From Hyde Park to the papacy: Pope Leo's local roots". Hyde Park Herald. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Rumore, Kori (May 9, 2025). "Pope Leo XIV's family: What to know about his parents and their deep Chicago ties". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  11. ^ "Obituary for Louis M. Prevost". Chicago Tribune. November 10, 1997. p. 6. Archived from the original on May 8, 2025. Retrieved May 8, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ de Senneville, Loup Besmond (January 30, 2023). "Démission du cardinal Ouellet : un évêque américain placé à la tête du dicastère pour les évêques" [Resignation of Cardinal Ouellet: an American bishop appointed to head the Dicastery for Bishops]. La Croix (in French). Archived from the original on May 8, 2025. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bosman, Julie (May 16, 2025). "A Century-Old Romance That Gave the Pope His Family Name". The New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
  14. ^ Palmer, Kathryn (May 8, 2025). "Who are Robert Prevost's family members? Here are Pope Leo XIV's parents, siblings". USA Today. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  15. ^ a b Colas, Soliane (May 9, 2025). "La grand-mère du nouveau pape Léon XIV était 'fille de pâtissiers' en Normandie" [The grandmother of the new Pope Leo XIV was the 'daughter of pastry chefs' in Normandy]. Ouest-France (in French). Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  16. ^ Barbano-Bodami, Betit, Elzey (May 15, 2025). "Ancestry Discovers Pope Leo XIV's Sicilian Roots". Ancestry.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Louis, Jayla (May 22, 2025). "University confirms Pope Leo XIV's grandfather attended QU". WGEM. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
  18. ^ a b "Pope Leo XIV's question about his French ancestry". Aleteia. May 11, 2025. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  19. ^ Martin, Iratxe (May 9, 2025). "Mildred Martínez, la madre de sangre española que crió al Papa León XIV entre libros, cantos y fe". ¡HOLA! (in Spanish). Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  20. ^ a b Rose, Andy; Romine, Taylor; Rehbein, Matthew (May 9, 2025). "Pope Leo XIV's unexpected New Orleans Creole background excites city's large Catholic community". CNN. Archived from the original on May 9, 2025. Retrieved May 11, 2025.
  21. ^ a b c d Bosman, Julie (May 11, 2025). "The Mother Whose Catholic Faith Inspired the Future Pope". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  22. ^ "Obituary for Mildred Prevost". Chicago Tribune. June 20, 1990. p. 28. Archived from the original on May 8, 2025. Retrieved May 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Rumore, Kori (May 9, 2025). "From Chicago's south suburbs to helping choose the next pope". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
  24. ^ a b Fausset, Richard; Chiarito, Robert (May 8, 2025). "New Pope Has Creole Roots in New Orleans". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 11, 2025. Retrieved May 10, 2025.
  25. ^ Levitan, Hannah (May 8, 2025). "Pope Leo XIV has roots in New Orleans' 7th Ward. See his family lineage and history". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
  26. ^ Borg, Neville (May 15, 2025). "Fact-check: Does Pope Leo XIV have Maltese ancestry?". Times of Malta. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
  27. ^ a b c d Fausset, Richard (May 10, 2025). "See Historical Records Documenting the Pope's Creole Roots in New Orleans". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 11, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  28. ^ a b c Thomas, Elizabeth; Valle, Alondra; Chang, Emily (May 9, 2025). "Pope Leo XIV's family tree shows Black roots in New Orleans". ABC News. Archived from the original on May 12, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  29. ^ a b "Obituary for Mary Sulpice Martinez, R.S.M." Chicago Tribune. March 2, 1999. p. 97.
  30. ^ a b c d Callahan, Chrissy (May 10, 2025). "What to know about Pope Leo XIV's parents and brothers". TODAY.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  31. ^ "Sister M. Amarita Martinez". The Telegraph-Herald. April 25, 1945. p. 10.
  32. ^ Vargas, Ramon Antonio (May 11, 2025). "This American pope: Leo XIV's bloodline reflects the US melting pot". The Guardian. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  33. ^ "Louise Martinez". Chicago Tribune. November 19, 1945. p. 24. Retrieved May 13, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ a b Eaglin, Maya (May 13, 2025). "Pope Leo's family tree shows ties to a prominent Creole family of color in Louisiana". NBC News.
  35. ^ Weis, Kati (May 10, 2025). "Pope Leo XIV's New Orleans Creole lineage has city buzzing with excitement". CBS News. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  36. ^ a b c Gates Jr., Henry Louis (June 15, 2025). "Finding the Pope's Roots". The New York Times Magazine. pp. 26–33. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  37. ^ Fassone, Andrea (May 9, 2025). "Le origini di Papa Leone XIV e gli antenati di Sanremo". Il Secolo XIX (in Italian).
  38. ^ Ballaro, Charles; Bennet, Halina; Fortin, Jacey (May 9, 2025). "As a Child, the Future Pope Leo Played Priest". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 11, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  39. ^ Liddell, James (May 12, 2025). "Pope Leo's brother shares clip calling Pelosi a 'drunk c***' and scolds Dems for having 'Trump derangement syndrome'". The Independent. Archived from the original on May 29, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  40. ^ Burback, Emily (May 11, 2025). "Meet Pope Leo XIV's Brothers, John and Louis Prevost". Town & Country. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  41. ^ Chiarito, Robert; Smith, Mitch (May 9, 2025). "'I Was Stunned': Watching From Illinois, Pope's Brother Reflects on History". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  42. ^ MONARCH '72 (18 ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Mendel Catholic Prep School.
[edit]