Jean Pierre Boyer

Who was Jean Pierre Boyer?

Jean-Pierre Boyer was one of the leaders of the Haitian Revolution, and President of Haiti from 1818 to 1843. He reunited the north and south of Haiti in 1820 and also occupied and took control of Santo Domingo, which brought all of Hispaniola under one government by 1822. Boyer managed to rule for the longest period of time of any of the revolutionary leaders of his generation.

Born a free gens de couleur in Saint-Domingue and educated in France, Boyer had fought with Toussaint Louverture in the early years of the Haitian Revolution. He allied himself with André Rigaud, also of mulatto ancestry, in the latter's abortive insurrection against Toussaint to try to keep control of the southern region of Saint-Domingue.

After going into exile in France, Boyer and Alexandre Pétion, another mulatto, returned in 1802 with the French troops led by General Charles Leclerc. After it became clear the French were going to try to reimpose slavery and restrictions on free gens de couleur, Boyer joined the patriots under Pétion and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who led the colony to independence. After Pétion rose to power in the State of Haiti in the South, he chose Boyer as his successor. He was reportedly under the influence of his lover, Marie-Madeleine Lachenais, who acted as his political adviser.