Dame Marie Selipha Descartes, DBE, SLMM, BEM (née Charlery; 28 March 1914 – 11 August 2010), best known as Sesenne, was a Saint Lucian singer and cultural icon.

Patronage by St. Lucia's first woman legislator led to the singer's "discovery" by a cultural preservationist, who in turn introduced Sesenne to an American anthropologist to make recordings of her songs.

[1] Raised in the rural, patois (Creole)Kwéyòl-speaking part of St Lucia, whose customs of flower festivals and séances, were both frowned upon and prohibited by the British elites who governed the island, Sesenne learned to embrace her culture and celebrate its African tradition.

[3] Besides singing, she was an accomplished dancer of many styles, including the bakalow, belair, la committee, chalstan, débot, konte, kontwidance, mapa, mazouk, meina, quadrille and ring games.

[3][4] Sesenne's skill with kont brought her to the attention of Grace Augustin, a planter and entrepreneur who owned guest house called The Hotel on the roadway between Micoud and Castries.

The following year, Sesenne opened the festivities, which not only featured broadcasting, but included live performances of dancers, musicians and singers, as well as literature written promoting the language.

[6] Later that year, in October, Sesenne was crowned with the title "Queen of Culture in St. Lucia" at a ceremony held with family and friends in the Catholic Church in Mon Repos.

[12] At her funeral, Prime Minister Stephenson King announced the creation of the "Dame Sesenne Descartes National Endowment for Creative Industries" to promote growth and development of cultural endeavors.

[13] In 2014, a biography of Sesenne was included in A. L. Dawn French's book, Profile: Cultural Heroes of Saint Lucia, volume 18 of a series produced by the Folk Research Centre.