Max Chancy

Max Chancy (May 9, 1928 – March 25, 2002) was a Haitian intellectual, labor leader, and political activist.

Chancy was a co-founder of the Centre d’Études Secondaires and of a major teachers' union in Haiti. He participated in the leftist resistance to the Duvalier dictatorship and was exiled to Canada in the 1960s, where he continued his political and educational work, before returning to Haiti after the dictatorship's fall.

Early life Max Chancy was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 1928. He studied at the l'École normale supérieure at the Université d'État d'Haïti, and he also obtained a philosophy degree from the Sorbonne in France and a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Mainz in Germany.

Career After completing his university studies in Europe, Chancy returned to Haiti and taught at the Université d'État d'Haïti as well as Toussaint Louverture High School. In 1954, he co-founded the Centre d’Études Secondaires, a distinguished school in Port-au-Prince. His work on this committee led to the "Chancy Report," which introduced the concept of intercultural education for the first time in the province.

He also continued his trade unionist work, including through the 1974 International Conference of Worker Solidarity, alongside Michel Chartrand. Along with his wife, fellow educator and activist Adeline Magloire Chancy, he helped found the Maison d'Haïti, an organization dedicated to education, in Montreal in 1972.

After Jean-Claude Duvalier was ousted in 1986, Chancy returned to Haiti. The couple had three sons: Bernard Chancy, Jean-Pierre Chancy, and Michel Chancy.