Marie Celeste Dragon (1777–1856) was a prominent Creole of color land owner during the Spanish Louisiana period, also known for her portrait by José Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza.

She was on the cover of the book Exiles at Home The Struggle to Become American in Creole New Orleans by Shirley Elizabeth Thompson.

Her mother was a former slave named Marie Françoise Chauvin Beaulieu de Montplaisir.

She belonged to Mr. Charles Daprémont de La Lande, a member of the Superior Council.

Records indicate that Marianne's parents were married, which was legally prohibitive for an interracial couple.

There are over 36 documented slave records clarifying that Dragon and his wife Françoise Chauvin Beaulieu de Monplaisir were planters.

[4] In 1795, a portrait was painted of the young creole Marianne by famous Mexican painter José Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza, documenting her appearance and physical characteristics.

In marriage records, her mother was listed as a quadroon which is considered highly unlikely due to Marianne's complexion.

Around the same period, Marianne met a Greek man named Andrea Dimitry.

Documents indicate that the priest Père Antoine read the law prohibiting interracial marriages out loud at the ceremony.

Marianne was listed as white in marriage records to make it possible for her to legally marry Andrea.

[4] The territory became part of the United States in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase, and the family became American.

Their second daughter Aimèe Manuella Dimitry married a man from France named August Dietz.

[10] Her fourth child, Constantine Andrea Dimitry, died at 22 years old in a drowning incident, blind and unmarried.

Marianne's fifth child John Baptiste Miguel Dracos Dimitry married Caroline Sophia Powers.

Clino Angelica Dimitry married a prominent Italian surgeon named Giovanni Andrea Pieri, MD.

Marianne's seventh child Marie Francesca Athenais Dimitry had three husbands.

Mathilde Elizabeth Theophanie Dimitry married an Italian doctor named Auguste Natili from Pisa, Italy.

The Europeanized creole offspring resulted in Greek, Italian, French and English mixtures.

[11] In 1853, Marienne's grandson George Pandely ran for a seat on the Board of Assistant Aldermen, a municipal body responsible for urban infrastructure in New Orleans, including streets and sidewalks a position similar to a city councilman.

He won the election but two weeks after Victor Wiltz accused him and his family of having African lineage.

Marianne was featured in the 2013 book Behind Closed Doors Art in the Spanish American Home, 1492-1898 By Mia L. Bagneris, Michael A.