The "Founder of the
Republic," Alexandre Pétion was born in Port-au-Prince in 1770, of a French father
and a black mother. At 18 years of age, he became a soldier and was sent to France to
study at the Military Academy of Paris. Jointly with Dessalines, he played a very
important role in unifying blacks and mulattoes to fight together at the Independence War
against the French army.
Pétion was elected President of
the Republic of Haiti on March 9, 1806, elected again in 1811, and then in 1816 he was
re-elected President for Life. He became the first President of Haiti. He designed the
official flag and coat of arms of the second independent nation of the American continent.
He also supported other countries of South America in their struggle to gain independence
from Spain. After years of many hardships and challenges he confronted as a soldier and as
president, Alexandre Pétion ill and tired died in Port-au-Prince on March 29, 1818.
