Bornó, (Joseph) Louis (1865-1942)

Haitian politician, president 1922-30. Elected prime minister during the US occupation of Haiti, Bornó replaced the National Assembly with a docile legislative Council of State, which re-elected him in 1926. With violence mounting against his regime, the USA appointed an investigating commission in 1930, which recommended the appointment of a neutral president and the election of an assembly in preparation for the withdrawal of US forces in 1934. Reluctantly, Bornó stepped down in May 1930, being replaced by Eugene Roy.

Drawn from an elite mulatto (mixed ethnic) background, Bornó initially studied law in Paris and later became a prominent diplomat, serving as envoy to the Dominican Republic and as a foreign minister.