Gérard Gourgue (1 December 1925 – 4 December 2020) was a Haitian politician and human rights activist. He ran for

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

References

Gourgue completed his secondary studies at the Lycée Alexandre Pétion in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

. He continued his university studies in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

and in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He started his career as a lawyer, participating in the Bar of Port-au-Prince. Faced with Tonton Macoute militants, he created the Ligue haïtienne des droits humains. He led the organization until 1986. On 7 February 1986, after the fall of the regime of

Jean-Claude Duvalier Jean-Claude Duvalier (; 3 July 19514 October 2014), nicknamed "Baby Doc" ( ht, Bebe Dòk), was a Haitian politician who was the President of Haiti from 1971 until he was overthrown by a popular uprising in February 1986. He succeeded his father F ...

, Gourgue was called to the National Council of Government by

Henri Namphy Henri Namphy (2 October 1932 – 26 June 2018) was a Haitian general and political figure who served as President of Haiti's interim ruling body, the National Council of Government, from 7 February 1986 to 7 February 1988. He served again as Pre ...

. However, he resigned after 41 days due to divisive disagreements with the ruling regime. In 1988, he ran for president under the Fanmi Lavalas label. However, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

intervened allowing Namphy to continue his rule. After the

2000 Haitian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Haiti on May 21 and July 9, 2000, electing all 82 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and nineteen seats in the Senate. A further eight seats in the Senate were elected on November 26, alongside the presidential ...

, Gourgue served as honorary president until

Jean-Bertrand Aristide Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in ...

was sworn in, in February 2001. In 2004, Gourgue was appointed as ambassador of Haiti to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

and personal representative of Provisional President

Boniface Alexandre Boniface Alexandre (born 31 July 1936) is a Haitian politician. Alexandre served as the provisional president of Haiti following the 2004 Haitian coup d'état that removed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from office. He served until May 2006 ...

. He also represented Haiti at the

Organisation internationale de la Francophonie The (OIF; sometimes shortened to the Francophonie, french: La Francophonie , but also called International Organisation of in English-language context) is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a ...

. On 11 June 2009, Gourgue participated in the Haitian book festival ''Livres en Folie'' at the Parc Historique de la Canne à Sucre. Following the

2010 Haiti earthquake A disaster, catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (department), Ouest department, a ...

, he was involved in the ''Plan stratégique de sauvetage national''. Gérard Gourgue died in Port-au-Prince on 4 December 2020 at the age of 95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gourgue, Gerard 1925 births 2020 deaths Haitian politicians Government ministers of Haiti 20th-century Haitian lawyers People from Port-au-Prince Haitian expatriates in France