François Duvalier, byname Papa Doc, (born April 14, 1907, Port-au-Prince, Haiti—died April 21, 1971, Port-au-Prince), president of Haiti whose 14-year regime was of unprecedented duration in that country.
Duvalier graduated in 1934 from the University of Haiti School of Medicine, where he served as a hospital staff physician until 1943, when he became prominently active in the U.S.-sponsored anti-yaws campaign.
A contributor to the daily Action Nationale (1934), Duvalier was markedly influenced by the mystic scholar Lorimer Denis and became a member of Le Groupe des Griots, a circle of writers who embraced black nationalism and voodoo as the key sources of Haitian culture.