Early Life
Heureaux, affectionately known as Lilís, was born in Puerto Plata, the son of a Haitian father and a mother from St. Thomas, spoke French and English in addition to Spanish. Following the annexation of the Dominican Republic by Spain in 1861 he joined the rebellion to restore independence, becoming the principal lieutenant of Gen. Gregorio Luperón. In the period following this second independence, when revolutions were an annual occurrence, Heureaux emerged as one of the principal leaders of the Partido Azul. In 1876, he orchestrated an uprising that seized Puerto Plata and led to the election of Ulises Espaillat. When the nation's leading caudillo Buenaventura Báez, returned to power for his fifth term and fell after less than a year, he helped overthrow the two subsequent regimes.
Read more about this topic: Ulises Heureaux
Famous quotes related to early life:
“... goodness is of a modest nature, easily discouraged, and when much elbowed in early life by unabashed vices, is apt to retire into extreme privacy, so that it is more easily believed in by those who construct a selfish old gentleman theoretically, than by those who form the narrower judgments based on his personal acquaintance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)