François duvalier haiti biography

President of Haiti from 1957 to 1971

"Papa Doc" redirects here.

François duvalier haiti biography

For the Colombian drug trafficker, see Evaristo Porras Ardila.

François Duvalier (French pronunciation:[fʁɑ̃swadyvalje]; 14 April 1907 – 21 April 1971), also known as Papa Doc, was a Haitian politician and voodooist who served as the president of Haiti from 1957 until his death in 1971.^[3] He was elected president in the 1957 general election on a populist and black nationalist platform.

After thwarting a military coup d'état in 1958, his regime rapidly became more autocratic and despotic. An undercover government death squad, the Tonton Macoute (Haitian Creole: Tonton Makout), indiscriminately tortured or killed Duvalier's opponents; the Tonton Macoute was thought to be so pervasive that Haitians became highly fearful of expressing any form of dissent, even in private.

Duvalier further sought to solidify his rule by incorporating elements of Haitian mytholog