Early Life, Family and Training The origins of John James Audubon are rooted in the volatile landscape of Saint-Domingue, modern-day Haiti. Born Jean-Jacques Rabin on April 26, 1785, his arrival was marked by the complex social hierarchies of the Caribbean. He was the son of Lieutenant Jean Audubon, a French naval officer, and Jeanne Rabine, a twenty-seven-year-old chambermaid from Les Touches, Brittany. This lineage, caught between t…