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t has been my distinct privilege to serve as the editor of this book, which is long overdue. The descendant
of a hero of national independence, a former Dominican ambassador to Rome, and a leading Dominican
intellectual, Marcio Veloz Maggiolo (after whom Milan University named the first chair of Dominican
studies in Italy in 2019) published an article entitled “Italians in Dominican Life”
1
in 2001 in which he re-
viewed the most illustrious Italians in the Dominican Republic. He pointed out that, although his discussion
did not presume to be exhaustive, it served primarily to “focus attention on a community that has been funda-
mental in Dominican life, in its history and in the formation of its national identity.”
After arriving in Santo Domingo as Ambassador in 2017, during the critical reopening of the Embassy after
several years of closure, I realized that the Italian community in the Dominican Republic had indeed been
“fundamental to the nation’s life, history and character,” exactly as Maggiolo had written. It became clear to
me that the Italian community had been instrumental in forming a number of the identifying characteristics
of the country, helping to build the political, social, economic, and cultural structures that played a part in
molding the current Dominican Republic.
Italians together with their Dominican friends have written fundamental pages of the Dominican Re-
public’s history and in some cases of world history. Italians were present at the most critical junctures during
creation of the Dominican state, from establishment of the Navy and active involvement in the all-important
quest for national independence to strengthening the Catholic church, the educational system, and the econ-
omy; participating in the first free elections; creating the first newspaper; defining architecture—through such
symbolic monuments as the National Palace, the Columbus house, the marina and Altos de Chavón in Casa
de Campo, and Punta Cana—influencing agriculture and trade; and sketching the borders of culture through
art, cinema, music, and literature. Although this compendium of riches that binds the two countries was
well-known in part, it was not appreciated in its entirety, and I perceived a lack of awareness of the significant
bridges built by Italians in the development of the Dominican Republic right from its very start. Though in
a series of meetings I had experienced emotional and respectful responses with regard to the subject, I was
nevertheless aware that the import and potential of this Italian legacy was not fully or uniformly understood
here by either the Dominicans or Italians of early immigration, nor by the more recently arrived community.
I would like to share one particularly poignant moment. While the lunch guest of Grupo Puntacana found-
er Frank Rainieri and his lovely wife Haydée, the conversation turned to the subject of Italian influence in
the Dominican Republic, and I listened intently to Mr. Rainieri tell the story of an Italian hero and leading
figure in Dominican independence—Giovanni Battista Cambiaso. I later discovered that few knew the story
of Cambiaso, a Genoese merchant who established the Dominican Navy and saved the country by assembling
Introduction by the Editor
Andrea Canepari
Ambassador of Italy in Santo Domingo