At the beginning of April 1957, Franck Sylvain, who had become Haiti's provisional president in February, was deposed by the army after a tenure of less than two months, deepening the succession crisis that followed Paul Magloire's fall. Sylvain, a lawyer installed by a coalition to shepherd the country to elections, was unable to hold together the rival factions backing the leading presidential contenders, and the military moved him aside around April 1. Power passed to a collective Government Executive Council in early April rather than to a single successor, an arrangement that itself lasted only until late May.
The turbulence continued through the brief provisional presidency of Daniel Fignole and the military council of General Antonio Kebreau before Francois Duvalier won the September 1957 election, beginning the long Duvalier dictatorship.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Franck Sylvain, provisional President of Haiti (deposed by the army, placed under arrest)
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Franck Sylvain (provisional president deposed)
Government Executive Council (collective body that followed)
Daniel Fignole (later provisional president)
Antonio Kebreau (general who led the later military council)
Sources
A presidential succession list records Franck Sylvain as provisional president from 7 February to 1 April 1957, followed by a Government Executive Council from 6 April to 20 May 1957.
SOURCE REVIEWEDGeni, "Presidents of Haiti" project (succession list)open source ↗
During the chaotic interval between Magloire's fall and Duvalier's election, three provisional presidents held office; one resigned and the army deposed the other two, Franck Sylvain and Fignole.
SOURCE REVIEWEDGlobalSecurity.org, "Haiti - 1950-1957 - Paul Magloire"open source ↗
The Haitian Army seized power from the civilian authorities in this period, with General Leon Cantave briefly leading a military government after ousting the civilian Executive Council in April 1957 before a further reshuffle in May.
SOURCE REVIEWEDGrokipedia, "1957 Haitian general election"open source ↗
After multiple provisional presidents were appointed and deposed following Magloire's departure, Duvalier was finally elected president on 22 September 1957.
SOURCE REVIEWEDGlobal Nonviolent Action Database, "Haitians strike and overthrow a dictator, 1956"open source ↗
Editorial Note
The Cline dataset codes 2 April 1957 with the leader placed under house arrest; sources date Sylvain's removal to about 1 April, with a collective Executive Council forming on 6 April, so the dataset date marks the army's move against him. GlobalSecurity confirms the army deposed Sylvain. This is the third stage of the 1956-1957 Haitian succession crisis and precedes the rise of Duvalier. A succession list, GlobalSecurity, Grokipedia, and the Global Nonviolent Action Database were read directly.
Cross-Reference
Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Franck Sylvain, provisional President of Haiti (deposed by the army, placed under arrest).
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; placed under house arrest. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“Haiti’s President forced to resign: Army Said to Detain Sylvain,” April 3, 1957
“Haitian Candidates Weigh Interim Rule,” April 5, 1957
“Civil War Flares In Haiti; Army Groups Contest Rule Principals In The Haitian Revolt,”May 261957
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →