Marie Clepha Descartes, better known as Sessenne of Patience was born on March 28, 1913 at La Pointe, Mon Repos, Micoud.

Sessenne’s father was the overseer on the Patience Estate in the Micoud area. He was the local King of La Rose, her mother La Reine. Sesenne is married and had nine children, and worked as a self-employed baker.

Sessenne has been singing publicly since the age of six. At eighteen, she became the Chantwelle of the La Rose Society of which her parents were King and Queen. During her performances at local hotels, and country festivals in the early fifties Harold Simmons and Daniel Crowley made the first tape recordings of her music. Besides singing, Sesenne excelled as a dancer and danced the traditional dances such as the Debot, La Comette and Belair at many local and national festivals and celebrations.

In 1967 she was chosen to represent St. Lucia at what is now the Carifesta celebration in Grenada, where her song Manmay-la-di-Why was a big hit.

In 1991 Sessenne recorded her first and only album - a collection of Folk Songs - which can be heard during the Christmas season and at La Rose festivals.

Sessenne is a staunch member of the Roman Catholic Church and used to be heavily involved in its activities: instructing candidates for first communion and confirmation. She helped at fetes, deaths, funeral, illness, etc. She always was a member of the La Woz Society.

She taught the people of Saint Lucia to appreciate the importance of their own traditions. In Amelle Mathurin’s words: “Sessenne could have been a millionaire and have all of us as her servants, but instead she gave her talents for free, sharing herself for free, sharing herself for cultural development”.

According to Joyce Auguste, in her book entitled Oral and Folk Traditions of St. Lucia, “Sessenne’s greatest asset was the warmth of her personality, her generous disposition and her attitude of service before self. She was truly warmhearted, outgoing and vivacious, a truly gracious woman with a creole eloquence that can be compared to the best in the land.”

Through the years a number of honours were bestowed on Sessenne including the BEM – British Empire Medal, publicly declared Saint Lucia’s Queen of Culture by the Folk Research Centre and in June 2000, Sessenne was awarded the D. B. E. Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to Folk Culture and Arts in Saint Lucia.