|
|
|
|
François Duvalier
|
| |
|
| |
Dr. François Duvalier, known as "Papa Doc" (April 14, 1907 – April 21, 1971), was the President of Haiti from 1957 to 1971. In 1964 he made himself President for Life. He ruled until his death in 1971, in a regime marked by autocracy, corruption, and state-sponsored terrorism through his private militia known as Tonton Macoutes. It has been estimated that he was responsible for 30,000 dead and exile of thousands more.
in Port-au-Prince, Duvalier was the son of Duval Duvalier, a justice of the peace, and Ulyssia Abraham, a mentally unstable woman who worked in a bakery.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'François Duvalier' Start a new discussion about 'François Duvalier' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
Dr. François Duvalier, known as "Papa Doc" (April 14, 1907 – April 21, 1971), was the President of Haiti from 1957 to 1971. In 1964 he made himself President for Life. He ruled until his death in 1971, in a regime marked by autocracy, corruption, and state-sponsored terrorism through his private militia known as Tonton Macoutes. It has been estimated that he was responsible for 30,000 dead and exile of thousands more.
Early life
Born in Port-au-Prince, Duvalier was the son of Duval Duvalier, a justice of the peace, and Ulyssia Abraham, a mentally unstable woman who worked in a bakery. She lived in an asylum until she died in 1921. Largely raised by an aunt, Duvalier completed a degree in medicine from the University of Haiti in 1934. He served as staff physician at several local hospitals until 1943, when he became active in a US-sponsored campaign to control the spread of contagious tropical diseases.
He spent a year at the University of Michigan studying public health and won acclaim for helping the poor fight yaws, malaria and other tropical diseases that ravaged Haiti for years.
François Duvalier had a front seat for an era of Latin American political turmoil. The invasion of US Marines on Haitian soil in 1915, followed by incessant violent repressions of political dissent, and American-installed puppet rulers, left a powerful impression on the young Duvalier. He was also aware of the latent political power of the resentment of the terribly poor black majority against the tiny but powerful Haitian elite class of mulatto or mixed-race peoples.
Lucky enough to be schooled and literate in a country where all but a tiny handful were uneducated, Doctor Duvalier became involved in the négritude (black pride) movement of Haitian author Dr. Jean Price-Mars. He began an ethnological study of Vodou, Haiti's native religion, that would later pay enormous political dividends.
In 1939 Duvalier married Simone Ovide. They had four children: Marie Denise, Nicole, Simone, and Jean-Claude, their only son. He became director general of the National Public Health Service in 1946. In 1949, Duvalier served as minister of both health and labor. Having opposed the coup d'état of Paul Magloire, he left the government and was forced into hiding in 1954 until an amnesty was declared in 1956.
1957 election
Magloire resigned the presidency in December, 1956, leaving Haiti to be ruled by a succession of provisional governments. Through an election viewed as rigged by the Army (FADH), Duvalier won the presidency in September, 1957. His opponent was Louis Dejoie, a mullato industrialist from the North of Haiti who had dozens of farms and some factories. He described Louis Dejoie as part of the ruling mullato class that was making life difficult for the country's rural black majority. He had campaigned as a populist leader, using a noiriste strategy of challenging the mulatto elite, who had created a class structure that divided the country, and appealing to the Afro-Haitian majority. He exiled most of the major supporters of Louis Dejois once he had become president. After being sworn in on October 22, 1957, Duvalier revived the traditions of vodou. Later he used them to consolidate his power as he claimed to be a houngan, or vodou priest himself.
Duvalier deliberately modeled his image on that of Baron Samedi in an effort to make himself even more imposing. He often donned sunglasses to hide his eyes and talked with the strong nasal tone associated with the loa. Duvalier regime propaganda candidly stated that "Papa Doc: was one with the loas, Jesus Christ, and God himself. The most celebrated image from the time shows a standing Jesus Christ with hand on a seated Papa Doc's shoulder with the caption "I have chosen him". There was even a Duvalierist variant of the Lord's Prayer.
Consolidation of power
|
| |
|
|
