Soulouque, Faustin Élie, c.1785-1867, emperor of Haiti (1849-59). 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.