PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Leslie Manigat, a prominent figure in the Haitian political establishment whose term as president was cut short by a military coup in 1988, has died. He was 83.

The former president died at home before dawn Friday after a long period of illness, according to Evans Baubrun, deputy secretary of Manigat’s political party.

Baubrun said Manigat’s condition may have been complicated by a recent bout of chikungunya, a debilitating mosquito-borne virus that has been rapidly spreading in Haiti this year.

President Michel Martelly said he was saddened by the loss of Manigat, referring to him as “professor,” as he was widely known in Haiti. “With this death, the Republic has lost one of its worthy sons,” he said.

The death “creates a huge void in the Haitian intellectual community and in the world,” said Prime Minister Prime Laurent Lamothe. A statement issued by his office said Manigat “contributed to the education of several generations of Haitians and has helped to enhance our national pride.”

Manigat, a former professor of history and political science, won the presidency in January 1988 amid the tumult that followed the fall of former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier two years earlier.

The election, which was boycotted by the main opposition parties, was widely seen as illegitimate. A round of balloting three months earlier was called off after gunmen shot into lines of voters at polling stations and other assailants hacked people to death. Witnesses said soldiers took part in the shooting and the opposition said the military orchestrated the bloodshed to ruin the first free election in three decades.

Within six months, Manigat was ousted in a coup led by Lt. Gen. Henri Namphy.

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