Documents for "Haiti History: Biographies":

• Aristide, Jean-Bertrand 1953-, president of Haiti (1991, 1994-96, 2001-4). A radical Catholic priest who defended liberation theology , he worked among Haiti's poor and was part of a group of progressive priests who opposed the Duvalier dictatorship. He studied theology and sociology in Canada, England, Italy, and Israel, and was ordained in 1982. Expelled from his order in 1988 because of his revolutionary teachings, he became...

• Barrow, Errol 1920-87, prime minister of Barbados (1966-76, 1986-87). After serving as a British Royal Air Force pilot and navigator (1940-47), he obtained (1949) a law degree in London, returned to Barbados,...

• Boyer, Jean Pierre 1776-1850, president of Haiti (1818-43). A free mulatto, he fought under Toussaint L'Ouverture and then joined André Rigaud , also a mulatto, in the latter's abortive insurrection against Toussaint. He returned in 1802 with the French army of Charles Leclerc but later joined the patriots under Alexandre Pétion , who chose him as his successor. He united N and S Haiti after the suicide of Henri Christophe (1820), and in 1822, taking advantage of the weakness of Spanish Santo Domingo, he took control of the whole island. Compulsory labor was instituted. In 1825 a French fleet forced Boyer to pay an...

• Burnham, Forbes 1923-85, prime minister (1964-80) and president (1980-85) of Guyana, formerly British Guiana. His full name was Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham. Of African descent, he received a law degree (1947)...

• Bustamante, Sir Alexander 1884-1977, prime minister of Jamaica (1962-67). The son of an Irish father and a Jamaican mother, he was adopted and taken to Spain as a child. He joined the Spanish army, then traveled...

• Charles, Eugenia (Mary Eugenia Charles), 1919-2005, Dominican politician, first female prime minister of Dominica (1980-95). A lawyer, she was a founder (1968) of the Dominica Freedom party (DFP) and headed the DFP...

• Christophe, Henri 1767-1820, Haitian revolutionary leader. A freed black slave, he aided Toussaint L'Ouverture in the liberation of Haiti and was army chief under Dessalines. When the latter declared himself emperor, Christophe took part (1806) in a successful plot against his life and was elected president of the republic. Christophe, a pure-blooded black, then waged...

• Constantine, Learie 1902-71, West Indian cricket player and the first black man to sit in the British House of Lords, b. Trinidad. The son of a sugar plantation foreman, he became world famous as a cricket player in...

• Dessalines, Jean Jacques c.1758-1806, emperor of Haiti (1804-6), born a slave. A shrewd general, he served under Toussaint L'Ouverture in the wars that liberated Haiti. His barbaric cruelty against the mulattoes whom Toussaint was unable to control led to a bitter struggle with the mulatto leaders André Rigaud and Alexandre Pétion. In 1802 Dessalines fought brilliantly against the French, whose forces were led by Gen. Charles Leclerc, earning the nickname of the Tiger. After the decimation of the French army by yellow fever...

• Duvalier, François 1907-71, dictator of Haiti (1957-71). A physician, he became director-general of the national public health service in 1946 and subsequently served as minister of health and of labor. After...

• Duvalier, Jean-Claude 1951-, president of Haiti (1971-86). At age 19, he was proclaimed "president for life" upon the death of his father, Francois Duvalier. Under great pressure from the United States to moderate the corrupt and dictatorial regime of his father, he made a show of introducing reforms, replacing some of his father's cabinet ministers,...

• Geffrard, Nicholas Fabre 1806-79, president of Haiti (1859-67). He took part (1843) in the revolt against Jean Pierre Boyer and led the insurrection that overthrew Faustin Élie Soulouque in 1859. Although he tried...

• L'Ouverture, Toussaint see Toussaint L'Ouverture, François Dominique.

• Manley, Michael Norman 1924-97, prime minister of Jamaica (1972-80, 1989-92); son of Norman Manley. A leader of the socialist People's National party, he was first elected to parliament in 1967. Winning a landslide victory in 1972, he shifted Jamaican politics to the left, establishing close...

• Manley, Norman Washington 1893-1969, prime minister of Jamaica (1959-62); father of Michael Manley. Of Irish and African descent, he was educated at Oxford and became an internationally known lawyer. He founded the moderately socialist People's National party in 1938, and, with his cousin,...

• Nau, Jacques Jean David c.1630-1671, French pirate in the West Indies. He is also called François L'Olonnois. He went to the West Indies in 1650. Expelled in 1653 from the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo for buccaneering...

• Ogé, Vincent c.1750-1791, Haitian revolutionist and national hero. A free mulatto, well educated and comparatively wealthy, he was sent to plead before the National Assembly at the outbreak of the French...

• Pétion, Alexandre 1770-1818, Haitian revolutionist. After taking part in the expulsion (1798) of the English from Haiti, he joined (1799) André Rigaud against Toussaint L'Ouverture and commanded the heroic but tragic defense of Jacmel, a southern port. Exiled, he returned with the French army under Leclerc in 1802. Rejoining the patriots because he feared the reestablishment...

• Patterson, P. J. (Percival James Patterson), 1935-, Jamaican political leader, prime minister of Jamaica (1992-2006). A lawyer, he became an active member of the People's National party (PNP) in the 1950s. From...

• Pindling, Sir Lynden Oscar 1930-2000, prime minister of the Bahamas (1967-92). The son of a policeman, he received a law degree (1952) from London Univ. As leader of the Progressive Liberal party, he represented the large...

• Rigaud, André 1761-1811, Haitian mulatto general in the wars that liberated Haiti. Educated, but vain, he believed in the superiority of mulattoes. He sought (1798-1800) unsuccessfully to wrest the leadership...

• Seaga, Edward 1930-, prime minister of Jamaica (1980-89). Born in Boston, Mass., to Jamaican parents of Lebanese and Scottish descent, he was a record producer before entering politics. Elected to parliamnent...

• Soulouque, Faustin Élie c.1785-1867, emperor of Haiti (1849-59). An illiterate former slave, he became president in 1847 and then declared himself emperor as Faustin I. His reign was corrupt, sanguinary, and...

• Toussaint L'Ouverture, François Dominique c.1744-1803, Haitian patriot and martyr. A self-educated slave freed shortly before the uprising in 1791, he joined the black rebellion to liberate the slaves and became its organizational genius...

• Williams, Eric 1911-81, prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago (1961-81). He attended Oxford Univ. and taught at Howard Univ. in Washington, D.C. (1939-53). Returning to Trinidad, he founded (1955) the country's...