Soulouque, Faustin élie
l
k´), c.17851867, emperor of Haiti (184959). An illiterate former slave, he became president in 1847 and then declared himself emperor as Faustin I. His reign was corrupt, sanguinary, and terror-ridden; his court was a caricature of Napoleon's. Although he failed in his attempt to conquer Santo Domingo, he held Haiti under stern control until overthrown by a revolution led by Nicholas Fabre Geffrard.