Juan Pablo Duarte Y Diez

Juan Pablo Duarte y Diez


Juan Pablo Duarte "The Father of the Country (1813-1876) (Santo Domingo-Caracas, Venezuela) Juan Pablo Duarte was born in Santo Domingoin the barrio Santa Barbara on the street Isabel la Catolica (his modest home is now a museum - more information on the Duarte museum) January 26, 1813. He is the son of Juan José Duarte, a Spanishretailer born in Spain, and Manuela Diez y Jiménez, a native of the El Ceibo region of Dominican Republic.
His family left Dominican Republic in 1801 when the Haitian troops, Toussaint L'Ouverture, tookpossession of the city. They fled to Puerto Rico, residing there until the Spanish regained control of part the country in the War of Reconquista in 1809.In 1831 or 32 he returned to Santo Domingoand he worked in his fathers business. Juan Pablo, having such an outgoing personality, had a great social life and was soon became a well known personality and attended all the important functions ofthe time. He was also very patriotic and he strongly disliked the presence of Haitians in the country.
Duarte excelled in his school work and was taught by one of the best professors of the Universityof Santo Domingo,: Doctor Juan Vicente Troncoso. Here he studied philosophy and Roman Rights. He was an excellent student and loved to study so much so that his family decided for him to excel theyneeded to take him to New York. t is not known how long he spent in New York but it is thought to be some time because of his mastery of languages. Then he was on to London and Paris and finally toBarcelona Spain where he had relatives. During his time abroad not much is known of his history.
Again the following year on 27 February 1844, another attempt was made to take over the country fromHaitian rule. This time it was successful. The country declared its independence again and took the name República Dominicana (Dominican Republic). A constitution modeled on that of the United States...