Mainville-Joseph Soulouque (born in Anse-à-Veau on August 21, 1830, and died in Port-au-Prince on January 7, 1875), is a Haitian prince and soldier.[1] Nephew of Emperor Faustin I. He was prince of the blood under the Second Empire and marshal of the imperial army.
Mainville-Joseph Soulouque is the son of Prince Jean-Joseph (brother of Emperor Faustin I), Duke of Port-de-Paix, and the eldest child of his father's second marriage to Princess Célestine Dessalines, daughter of Emperor Jacques I.
In 1849, when his uncle became Emperor of Haiti, he obtained the title of Duke of Fort-Royal and Prince of the Blood, as the sovereign's first nephew. As Faustin had just lost his one and only son, he then thought of adopting his nephew, Mainville, and making him his new heir. Finally, he modified the rules of succession, in order to allow his eldest daughter, Princess Olive, to succeed him.
As a prince of the blood, Mainville received the title of imperial highness on August 26, 1849, date of the proclamation of the Second Empire and the accession to the throne of his uncle.
On August 3, 1853, he married one of his cousins, Isabelle-Charlotte Salnave (1833–1890),[2] sister of the dictator Sylvain Salnave, with whom he had three children:
He died in 1875 at the age of 44.[6]