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Here is a picture of the coronation of Faustin I. In 1849, Faustin Soulouque was proclaimed Emperor of Haiti under the name Faustin I.

Soulouque ascended the ranks of the Haitian military over the next forty years, ending up as Lieutenant General and Supreme Commander of the Presidential Guards. When President Riche passed away in 1847 the Boyerist ruling class needed another figurehead as president. They picked Soulouque, thinking he was unintelligent and ill-informed. Soulouque did their bidding at first but turned on them and declared himself a dictator. He began a campaign of genocide against the mulatto-elites, and in 1849 Parliament decreed Soulouque Emperor of Haiti, Faustin I. Three years later he and his wife Adelina were crowned Emperor and Empress.

Faustin protected Haiti's sovereignty from foreign threats and unsuccessfully tried to divest the Dominican Republic of theirs. In 1846 military leader Fabre Geffrard staged a coup d'etat, driving Faustin into exile, becoming the next president. Faustin was exiled to Kingston, Jamaica and many believed he died there. But historian Jacques Leger claims Faustin died in Petit-Goâve, having snuck back into the country.

Read more about Faustin Soulouque, Faustin I, Emperor, People

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