Juan Pablo Duarte
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Juan Pablo Duarte y Díez was born on January 26, 1813 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic during the period of the "Spanish Foolishness" (España Boba). Duarte, along with Francisco del Rosario Sanchez and Ramón Matías Mella, is considered to be one of the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic.
After the troops of the Haitian Toussaint L'Ouverture invaded the Spanish side of the island in 1801, Duarte's parents, Juan José Duarte and Manuela Diez Jiménez, left for Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, where it is assumed their first son Vicente Celestino was born. The family returned to the Dominican Republic after the War of the Reconquest in 1809, when the the colony was, once again, Spanish. They took up residence on the western side of the Ozama river, in the La Atarazana zone.
[edit] The Struggle for Independence
Due to the neglect of the Spanish authorities, the colonists of Santo Domingo, under the leadership of José Núñez de Cáceres, proclaimed what came to be called the Ephemeral Independence. Neighboring Haiti, a former French colony) and thus already independent decided to invade the Spanish side of the island. Haiti's president Jean-Pierre Boyer sent an invasion army that took over the eastern (Spanish) portion of Hispaniola (La Española), continuing the ethnic cleansing of Europeans and mulattoes as they had already done on the western side of the island. Haiti then abolished slavery and occupied and absorbed Santo Domingo into the Republic of Haiti. Due to this political instability, Duarte's parents sent their son away to safety and to study in Europe.
On July 16, 1838, Duarte and others established a secret patriotic society called La Trinitaria, which helped undermine Haitian occupation. Some of its first members included Juan Pablo Duarte, Juan Isidro Pérez, Pedro Alejandro Pina, Jacinto de la Concha, Félix María Ruiz, José María Serra, Benito González, Felipe Alfau and Juan Nepomuceno Ravelo. Later, he and others founded another society, called La Filantrópica, which had a more public presence, seeking to spread veiled idead of liberation through theatrical stages. All of this, along with the help of many who wanted to be rid of the Haitians who ruled over Dominicans led to the proclamation of independence on February 27, 1844 (Dominican War of Independence). However, Duarte had already been exiled to Caracas the previous year for his insurgent conduct. He continued to correspond with members of his family and members of the independence movement. Independance could not be denied and after many struggles, the Dominican Republic was born. A republican form of government where a free people would hold ultimate power, through the voting process, a democracy where every citizen would be equal and free. Therefore with its flag and beautiful coat of arms, declaring "God, Fatherland and Freedom", all of these inspired, evoked and expressed by Duarte came into being a country that would soon owe this one man its existence, who gave his fortune and the very best of his life to the cause he fervently believed in.
Duarte was supported by many as a candidate for the presidency of the new born Republic. Mella, wanted Duarte to simply declare himself president. Duarte never giving up on the principles of democracy and fairness he lived by would only accept if voted in by a majority of the Dominican people. However the forces of those favoring Spanish sovereignty as protection from continued Haitian threats and invasions, led by general Pedro Santana a large landowner from the eastern lowlands, took over and exiled Duarte. In 1845, Santana exiled the entire Duarte family. Santana was awarded the hereditary title of Marqués de las Carreras by the Spanish Queen Isabel II and died soon after.
Juan Pablo Duarte, then living in Venezuela was made the Dominican Consul and provided with a pension to honor him for his sacrifice. But even this after some time was not honored and he lost commission and pension. He, Juan Pablo Duarte, the poet, philosopher, writer, actor, soldier, general, dreamer and hero died nobly in Caracas, Venezuela, at the age of 63. His remains were transferred to Dominican soil in 1884, ironically by president (dictator) Ulises Heureaux, and were given a proper burial with full honors. He is entombed in a beautiful mausoleum at the Count's gate alongside Sanchez and Mella, who at that spot fired the rifle shot that propelled them into legend. His birth is commemorated by Dominicans every January 26.
