The Stranger-King of the Caribbean: François Duvalier, State Politics, and the Othering of Brutality

François Duvalier (1907–71) ruled Haiti from 1957 until his death in 1971. His regime has often been described as one of the most brutal in the nation's history. Duvalier was also known then and is remembered today as someone of foreign origin who, for this reason, grew up without kin—save his father and grandfather. Duvalier had no known siblings, cousins, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, grandmothers, or granduncles; almost nothing is known about his own mother. Such socialization in a society where extended family usually frames one's identity and social position is extraordinary. New, unpublished documents presented in this article prove where Duvalier's family was actually from. Society created a moral genealogy for Duvalier to distance itself from his brutality; it “othered” its ruler by linking him to alterity. [Haiti, Duvalier, kinship, Sahlins, stranger-king, violence].