Simone Duvalier imperious bearing, Haitians referred to her as "Mama Doc". She was, like her husband, reported to be a Vodou expert. She cultivated the image of a benefactor; dispensing charity to inhabitants of "Cite Simone", a planned settlement named for her that is known today as Cité Soleil, one of the most miserable slums in Latin America. Simone Duvalier's influence reached its peak after the death of her husband on 21 April 1971, when her nineteen-year-old son Jean-Claude Duvalier succeeded his father as Haiti's "President for Life". Simone Duvalier retained the title of First Lady, and relished the power it conferred.
Jean-Claude-Républicain Arnoux Jean-Claude-Républicain Arnoux Jean-Claude-Républicain Arnoux (Le Cateau-Cambrésis – 1866) was a French civil engineer known for his invention of the Arnoux system for articulating trains on tight curves. As an entrepreneur he founded and directed the , which constructed and operated the line from Paris to Orsay and is now part of the Ligne de Sceaux. It opened on 6 June 1846. Jean-Claude-Républicain Arnoux was born at Le Cateau-Cambrésis in the Nord department of France on 16 December 1792. His father was a postmaster. In 1811 he entered the École polytechnique and became a lieutenant in the Artillery under the French