Faustin Soulouque
| Faustin I | |||||
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| Emperor of Haiti | |||||
Faustin I, in 1850
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| Emperor of Haiti | |||||
| Reign | 25 August 1849 – 15 January 1859 | ||||
| Coronation | 18 April 1852 | ||||
| Predecessor | Himself (as President of Haiti) | ||||
| Successor | Fabre Geffrard (as President of Haiti) | ||||
| 7th President of Haiti | |||||
| Reign | 1 March 1847 – 25 August 1849 | ||||
| Predecessor | Jean-Baptiste Riché | ||||
| Successor | Himself (as emperor of Haiti) | ||||
| Born |
15 August 1782 Petit-Goave, Saint-Domingue |
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| Died | 6 August 1867 (aged 84) Anse-à-Veau, Haiti |
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| Spouse | Adélina Lévêque | ||||
| Issue |
Olive Soulouque Célita Soulouque |
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| Mother | Marie-Catherine Soulouque | ||||
| Full name | |
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| Faustin-Élie Soulouque |
Faustin-Élie Soulouque (15 August 1782 – 6 August 1867) was a career officer and general in the Haitian Army when he was elected President of Haiti in 1847. In 1849 he was proclaimed Emperor of Haiti under the name Faustin I. He soon purged the army of the ruling elite, installed black loyalists in administrative positions, and created a secret police and a personal army. In 1849 he created a black nobility in the country. However, his unsuccessful attempts to reconquer the neighbouring Dominican Republic undermined his control and a conspiracy led by General Fabre Nicolas Geffrard forced him to abdicate in 1859.
Born into slavery in Petit-Goâve in 1782, Soulouque was one of two sons of Marie-Catherine Soulouque. The latter was born at Port-au-Prince, Saint-Domingue, 1744, as a creole slave of the Mandingo race. She died at Port-au-Prince, 9 August 1819. He was freed as a result of a 1793 decree of Léger-Félicité Sonthonax, the Civil Commissioner of the French colony of Saint-Domingue, that abolished slavery in response to slave revolts in 1791. As a free citizen, and with his freedom in serious jeopardy due to attempts of the French government to re-establish slavery in its colony of Saint-Domingue, he enlisted in the black revolutionary army to fight as a private during the Haitian Revolution between 1803 and 1804. During this conflict, Soulouque became a respected soldier and as a consequence he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Army of Haiti in 1806 and made aide-de-camp to General Lamarre.
In 1810 he was appointed to the Horse Guards under President Pétion. During the next four decades he continued to serve in the Haitian Military, rising to the rank of Colonel under President Guerrier, until finally promoted to the highest command in the Haitian Army, attaining the rank of Lieutenant General and Supreme Commander of the Presidential Guards under then President Jean-Baptiste Riché.
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Wikipedia