Tuhia he haere tonu mo tenei waahanga - I whanau a Martelly i Cote de Fer, te tama a Gerard Martelly, he kaiwhakahaere Shell Oil me Marie Madeleine Martelly ("née" De Pradines, b. 1931 <unk> d. 21 Oketopa 2016). I te taha o tona whaea, ko tana tupuna ko Auguste de Pradines he kaiwhakatangitangi i tuhi i nga waiata whakaari whakaari mo te mahi a te United States i Haiti i te 1915-1934
He aha? Whai muri i tana tohu i te kura tuarua i te Institution Saint Louis de Gonzague, i uru a Martelly ki te Haitian Military Academy, engari (e ai ki a Martelly) i peia i muri i tana whakatipu i te tamahine a te rangatira. I te tau 1984, ka neke ia ki te United States, ka mahi i roto i te hangahanga me te haere poto ki tetahi kaareti hapori i Miami. I te tau 1986, i muri i te tau kotahi, ka whakarere ia i tana wahine tuatahi, he tangata whenua o Amerika, ka hoki ki Haiti i te wa e haere ana a Jean-Claude Duvalier, te perehitini mo te ora, ki te whakarau. I te 1987, ka hoki mai a Martelly ki Miami me tana hoa wahine o tera wa, a Sophia Saint-Rémy, i marenatia e ia i muri mai i tetahi huihuinga iti i Miami, Florida. I hoki raua ki Haiti i te tau 1988.