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Haiti News Media > Haiti News > Fabre-Nicolas Geffrard - Haitian President Fabre Nicolas Geffrard (b. Anse-à -Veau, September 6, 1806 – D. Kingston, December 31, 1878) President for life : December 23, 1858 – March 13, 1867
Fabre Nicolas Geffrard, son of General Nicolas Geffrard one of the signatories of the Act of Independence, made himself noticeable in the army. A solider at 15, he was a captain in 1843 at the age of 37. He later became a general and President Soulouque’s chief of the army.
He was elected President-for-life by the revolutionary government at the same time the republic was restored. Geffrard presided over one of the rare progressive governments of the 19th century. His administration made the significant progress in education, agriculture, finances, and trade.
Under his administration, a Concordat was signed between Haiti and the Vatican. The administration of President Boyer had appointed a Roman Catholic archbishop of Port-au-Prince, residing in Santo Domingo. Afterwards, until 1860, the Vatican was represented by different prelates. In 1859, President Geffrard reopened negotiations with Rome, and a Concordat was signed on March 28, 1860.
The school of medicine was reorganized. A school of music and a law school were created. Scholarships were granted to young Haitians in order to study in France. Primary and secondary education were encouraged. Many schools were created. French religious brothers and sisters arrived in Haiti as a result of the Concordat and opened numerous parish schools.
The new administration tried to give as much attention as possible to agriculture, industry and trade. Because of the War of Secession in the United States, Haitian cotton flourished on the international market, and Haiti was able to take advantage of these prices.
A good number of laws were voted during the nine years of Geffrard’s presidency. The Code Civil and the Code Penal were revised and a quicker process was introduced to facilitate the naturalization of foreigners. Their right to own land was denied. However, marriages between Haitian and foreigners were authorized.
President Geffrard tried to perform the army. To that end, he professionalized the corps and had French military instructors hired for that task.
During his tenure, his government also intervened and saved the Dominican Republic from annexation by Spain. Spain retaliated by sending and imposing fleet into Haitian waters. After intervention by diplomatic corps, Haiti was compelled to pay, a reduced, but still large, indemnity to Spain and to fire a twenty-one gun salute in deference to the fleet.
In 1861, a second attempt at the emigration of African-Americans to Haiti began when Reverend James Theodore Holly arrived in Haiti with more than one hundred immigrants. Poorly planned by the Haitian authorities, that immigration declined very quickly with many of the newcomers dying and the rest returning to the United States. Reverend Holly persisted and remained until his death in 1911. He founded the Episcopal Church of Haiti.
On June 5, 1862, the Lincoln administration recognized Haiti’s independence.
A sad episode helped to tarnish the image of the Geffrard government. A man and a woman were accused of kidnapping and killing a little girl during a ceremony. They were tried, sentenced to death, and executed on February 13, 1864. the enemies of Haiti seized upon that story to accuse its citizens of cannibalism Enormous harm was done to the international image of the young nation.
Overwhelmed by internal conflicts, Geffrard resigned on March 13, 1867, and went to Jamaica were he died in exile in 1878.
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