Born April 26, 1785,  John James Audubon was birthed in what is now Haiti on his father’s sugar plantation. His birth name was Jean-Jaques, named after his father Jean who was a French privateer, commonly known as pirates. His father had the rank of Lieutenant in the French navy and his mother was a 27-year-old chambermaid from Les Touches, Brittany. His mother’s name was Jeanne Rabines and lived as a mistress with his father, Jean. She got a tropical disease and died on the island when her son wad just a few months old.

Audubon grew up in France, but when he was 18 his father got him a false passport to escape the Napoleonic wars and the family moved to America. After the death of his mistress, his father had a number of children of mixed race with several native women. In 1789 his father sold part of his…