Jean François

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Jean François was a leader of the 1791 slave uprising that began the Haïtian Revolution.

With Georges Biassou and Jeannot, he was among those who Dutty Boukman prophesied would lead the revolution. Jean François emerged as one of the principal leaders of the black insurrection during the period 1791-1795. Whites who were taken prisoner during the early stages of the insurrection described him as humane and sensible, and less violent than Biassou. In 1794, however, he carried out a massacre of over 700 French civilians in Fort Dauphin. François fought with the Spanish royalists against the French Revolutionary authorities in colonial Haïti. Defeated by his former ally Toussaint L'Ouverture, he remained under Spanish service and eventually wound up in Spain, where he died during the Napoleonic period.