Juan Pablo Duarte
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Juan Pablo Duarte y Diez (born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, January 26 1813 – died in Caracas, Venezuela, July 15 1876), during the period of (in Spanish called) España Boba. Duarte is considered as one of the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic.
After the troops of the Haitian Toussaint L'Ouverture arrived to the Dominican Republic in 1801, Duarte's parents, Juan José Duarte and Manuela Diez Jiménez, left to Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, where it is assumed their first son Vicente Celestino was born. The family returned to the country after the war of the Reconquest in 1844, when the Dominican Republic was again a Spanish colony. His family resided on the western side of the Ozama river, in the La Atarazana zone.
The Struggle for Independence
When the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo declared emancipation from the Crown in 1821 and easily got it, it enticed the neighboring Haitians (Haiti is a former French colony) to invade, and proclaim the island of Hispanola as "one and indivisible". u On July 16, 1838, the outrage and discontent of the inhabitants of the Spanish side of the island prompted European-educated Duarte and other patriots to establish a secret dissident society called La Trinitaria, shaped after the Carbonari, which helped undermine Haitian rule. 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 separatist ideas through theatrical stages. All of this, along with the help of many who wanted to be rid of the Haitians and return to Spanish rule (and not to create an independent nation), 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.Duarte was supported by many as a candidate for the presidency of the new Republic, but the forces of those favoring Spanish sovereignty, led by general Pedro Santana, took over and exiled Duarte. In 1845, Santana exiled the entire Duarte family. Soon, the Dominican Republic, again, ceased to exist.
It was not until 1865 that the Dominican flag flew again, when independence fighters managed to retake their nation, in what is now called the Restoration of the Republic. Duarte kept coming and going from the island for many years due to rejection and accusations from remaining Spanish loyalists, and also because of his disgust with the bickering and dishonest dealings of the politicians that ruled the young nation.
Juan Pablo Duarte died alone and sick in Caracas, Venezuela, at the age of 63. His remains were transferred to Dominican soil in 1884, by president (dictator) Ulises Heureaux, and were given a proper burial with honors. His birth is commemorated by Dominicans each January 26th.
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