Jean-Claude Duvalier

Early life The son of Simone Ovide, a Mulatto-Haitian woman, and François Duvalier, a black nationalist anti-mulatto leader who became dictator of Haiti, Duvalier was born in Port-au-Prince and was brought up in an isolated environment. He attended Nouveau College Bird and Institution Saint-Louis de Gonzague. Later, he studied law at the University of Haiti under the direction of several professors, including Maître Gérard Gourgue.

President of Haiti In April 1971, he assumed the presidency of Haiti at the age of 19 upon the death of his father, François Duvalier (nicknamed "Papa Doc"), becoming the world's youngest president, as well as the only non-royal state leader under the age of 20. Initially, Jean-Claude Duvalier resisted the dynastic arrangement that had made him Haiti's leader, having preferred that the presidency go to his older sister Marie-Denise Duvalier. He was content to leave substantive and administrative matters in the hands of his mother, Simone Ovide Duvalier, and a committee led by Luckner Cambronne, his father's Interior Minister, while he attended ceremonial functions and lived as a playboy.

Marriage On 27 May 1980, Duvalier married divorcee Michèle Bennett in a wedding that cost US$2million. Discontent among the business community and elite intensified in response to increased corruption among the Duvaliers and the Bennett family's dealings, which included selling Haitian cadavers to foreign medical schools and trafficking in narcotics. Increased political repression added to the volatility of the situation.

Over time, Michèle grew to become a power in her own right. For example, she dressed down ministers at cabinet meetings while her husband dozed. The Program for the Eradication of Porcine Swine Fever and for the Development of Pig Raising (PEPPADEP) spread already-serious economic devastation among the peasant population, who bred pigs as an investment.

In addition, reports that HIV/AIDS was becoming a major problem in Haiti caused tourism to decline dramatically in the early 1980s. By the mid-1980s, most Haitians expressed hopelessness and despair, as economic conditions further worsened and hunger and malnutrition spread.

Widespread discontent began manifesting further in March 1983, when Pope John Paul II visited Haiti. The pontiff declared that "things must change in Haiti", and he called on "all those who have power, riches and culture so that they can understand the serious and urgent responsibility to help their brothers and sisters". He called for a more equitable distribution of income, a more egalitarian social structure, and increased popular participation in public life. This message revitalized both laymen and clergy, contributed to increased popular mobilization and expanded political and social activism. Duvalier declared "we are as firm as a monkey tail" and decided against abdication. However, the Duvaliers made another attempt to depart on 7 February 1986, and this time they succeeded, flying to France on a U.S. Air Force aircraft. Although he formally applied for political asylum, his request was denied by French authorities. Duvalier lost most of his wealth with his 1993 divorce from his wife.

In his years of exile, Duvalier made no known attempts to find employment or gain self-employment, nor did he ever try to get a book written about his experience. "All I know about is politics", he was quoted when asked about the lack of effort. Duvalier did take some courses at a university in France in an effort to sharpen his leadership skills.

A private citizen, named Jacques Samyn, unsuccessfully sued to expel Duvalier as an illegal immigrant (the Duvaliers were never officially granted asylum in France). In 1998, a Haitian-born photographer, Gérald Bloncourt, formed a committee in Paris to bring Duvalier to trial. At the time, the French Ministry of the Interior said that it could not verify whether Duvalier still remained in the country due to the recently enacted Schengen Agreement, which had abolished systematic border controls between France and the other participating countries. However, Duvalier's lawyer Sauveur Vaisse said that his client was still in France and denied that the exiled leader had fallen on hard times.

The 2004 Global Corruption Report listed Duvalier as the sixth-most corrupt world leaderbetween Slobodan Milošević and Alberto Fujimorihaving amassed between US$300million and US$800million.

Following the ousting of president Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004, Duvalier announced his intention to return to Haiti to run for president in the 2006 elections for the National Unity Party; however, he did not become a candidate.

While apparently living modestly in exile, Duvalier did have supporters, who founded the François Duvalier Foundation in 2006 to highlight positive aspects of the Duvalier presidency, including the creation of most of Haiti's state institutions and improved access to education for the country's black majority.

On 22–23 September 2007, an address by Duvalier to Haitians was broadcast by radio. Although he said exile had "broken" him, he also said that what he described as the improving fortunes of the National Unity Party had "reinvigorated" him, and he urged readiness among his supporters, without saying whether he intended to return to Haiti. President René Préval rejected Duvalier's apology and, on 28 September, he said that, while Duvalier was constitutionally free to return to Haiti, he would face trial if he did so. Duvalier's radio broadcast address was given in French and not Haitian Creole, the language spoken by the majority of Haitians.

In February 2010, a Swiss court agreed to release more than US$4million to Duvalier, although the Swiss Foreign Ministry said it would continue to block the release of the money.

Duvalier lived in Paris with Véronique Roy, his longtime companion, until his return to Haiti in late January 2011. Accompanied by Roy, he flew in from Paris, indicating that he wanted to help: "I'm not here for politics. I'm here for the reconstruction of Haiti", he said. According to Mac McClelland of Mother Jones magazine:

The former dictator was greeted at the Port-au-Prince airport with cheering and celebratory chanting ... The word from Duvalier is that he's come to help his country. According to everyone on the street and on the radio, the Americans and the French conspired to bring him here to upset current president René Préval, who's been accused of fixing his country's recent elections.

On 18 January 2011, he was taken into custody at his hotel by Haitian authorities. He was charged with corruption, theft, and misappropriation of funds committed during his 15-year presidency. He was released but was subject to recall by the court. By 30 January 2012, it was announced that the former president would face charges of corruption, but not of human rights abuses.

After the former president failed to appear for three previously scheduled court hearings, a Haitian judge issued a warrant ordering him to appear before the court 28 February 2013. Duvalier did so and for the first time pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption and human rights abuse.