Francois Duvalier
| François Duvalier | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
|
| President of Haiti | |
|
In office 22 October 1957 – 21 April 1971 |
|
| Preceded by |
Antonio Thrasybule Kébreau (Chairman of the Military Council) |
| Succeeded by | Jean-Claude Duvalier |
| Minister of Public Health and Labor | |
|
In office 14 October 1949 – 10 May 1950 |
|
| President | Dumarsais Estimé |
| Preceded by | Antonio Vieux (Public Health) Louis Bazin (Labor) |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Loubeau (Public Health) Emile Saint-Lot (Labor) |
| Undersecretary of Labor | |
|
In office 26 November 1948 – 14 October 1949 |
|
| President | Dumarsais Estimé |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
14 April 1907 Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
| Died | 21 April 1971 (aged 64) Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
| Nationality | Haitian |
| Political party | National Unity Party |
| Spouse(s) | Simone Duvalier |
| Children | Marie‑Denise Duvalier Nicole Duvalier Simone Duvalier Jean-Claude Duvalier |
| Alma mater | University of Haiti (MD) |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Religion | Vodou, excommunicated Catholic |
Antonio Thrasybule Kébreau (Chairman of the Military Council)
François Duvalier (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa dyvalje]; 14 April 1907 – 21 April 1971), also known as Papa Doc, was the President of Haiti from 1957 to 1971. He was elected president in 1957 on a populist and black nationalist platform and successfully thwarted a coup d’état in 1958. His rule, based on a purged military, a rural militia known as the Tonton Macoute, and the use of cult of personality, resulted in the murder of 30,000 to 60,000 Haitians and the exile of many more.
Prior to his rule, Duvalier was a physician by profession. His profession and expertise in the field acquired him the nickname “Papa Doc”. He would run in a unannounced one day election, would "earn" a second term. He took the title of President for Life in 1964, after another faulty election, and remained in power until he died in 1971. He was succeeded by his son, Jean‑Claude, who was nicknamed “Baby Doc”.
Duvalier was born in Port-au-Prince in 1907, son of Duval Duvalier, a justice of the peace, and baker Ulyssia Abraham. His aunt, Madame Florestal, raised him. He completed a degree in medicine from the University of Haiti in 1934, and served as staff physician at several local hospitals. He spent a year at the University of Michigan studying public health and in 1943, became active in a United States-sponsored campaign to control the spread of contagious tropical diseases, helping the poor to fight typhus, yaws, malaria and other tropical diseases that had ravaged Haiti for years. His patients affectionately called him “Papa Doc”, a moniker that he used throughout his life.
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Wikipedia