SOULOUQUE, Faustin Elie (soo-look), Haytian emperor under the name of FAUSTIN I., born in Petit Goave in 1785; died there 6 August, 1867. He was a negro slave of the Mandingo race, but was freed by the decree of Felicite Sonthonax, issued 29 August, 1793, and took part in the civil war that raged in the island, and in 1803 in the negro insurrection against the French. He became in 1810 a lieutenant in the horse-guards of President Alexandre Petion, and was promoted captain by President Jean Boyer, but in 1843 joined the party of Riviere-Herard, who made him a colonel. He was promoted brigadier-general by President Guerrier and lieutenant-general by President Jean Riche, and, after the death of the latter in February, 1847, while rival aspirants were disputing and plotting for the succession, the leaders of the senate agreed to elect an old and incapable negro general. Senators Ardouin and Dupuy nominated Soulouque, urging in his favor that he was unable to read or write, and he was unexpectedly elected on 1 March, 1847; but, instead of proving a tool in the hands of the senators, he showed a strong will, and, although by his antecedents belonging to the mulatto party, he began to attach the blacks to his interest. The mulattoes retaliated by conspiring ; but Soulouque began to decimate his enemies by confiscation, proscriptions, and executions. The black soldiers began a general massacre in Port au Prince, which ceased only after the French consul, Charles Reybaud, threatened to order the landing of marines from the men-of-war in the harbor. Ambitious to unite the two parts of the island, Soulouque invaded the Dominican territory in March, 1849, with 4,000 men, but was defeated in a decisive battle by Pedro Santana near Ocoa on 21 April and compelled to retreat. Despite the failure of the campaign, he caused himself to be proclaimed emperor on 26 August, 1849, under the name of Faustin I., apparently by the will of the people and the unanimous action of parliament. He surrounded himself with a numerous court, created dukes and other nobles, founded military and civil orders, and issued a constitution, reserving to himself the right to rule at any juncture as he pleased. On 18 April, 1852, with his wife Adelina, a woman of questionable character, whom he had married in December, 1849, against the advice of his lieutenants, he was crowned with great pomp by the vicar of Port au Prince, in imitation of the ceremonial at the coronation of Napoleon I. Toward the close of 1855 he invaded the Dominican territory again at the head of an army of 8,600 men, but was again defeated by Santana, and barely escaped being captured. His treasure and crown fell into the hands of the enemy. In the following year a new campaign was again unsuccessful, and two years later there was a commercial crisis in the island. Insurrections began in several counties, but they were put down. In December, 1858, General Fabre Geffrard put himself at the head of the movement, and, after some encounters with the imperial troops, entered Port au Prince, 15 January, 1859, Soulouque's soldiers refusing to fight. He took refuge at the French consulate, and, protected in his flight by Geffrard, sailed with his family on board the British ship "Melbourne" for Jamaica, arriving in Kingston on 22 January with great riches, consisting of jewelry, diamonds, and money, although his property in Hayti was confiscated. After the accession of Salnave in March, 1867, he was permitted to return to Hayti, and died soon afterward.