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THE ITALIAN LEGACY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
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a naval fleet where none had previously existed, making his ships and those of another Italian, Giovanni Batti-
sta Maggiolo, available to defend the independence of the Dominican Republic. In my chapter on diplomatic
relations (Chapter 13, Part Two: “Diplomatic Relations in the Present: 2017-2020”), I recount how my newly
found marvel and appreciation led to the joint annual celebration of the Italian Embassy and Dominican Navy
in the National Pantheon, and how, in 2018 at the Italian national celebration, the Navy choir sang with visi-
ble emotion its anthem, a hymn that names precisely these two illustrious Italians, Cambiaso and Maggiolo.
Looking more closely into Cambiaso’s story, I found that his descendants, the Porcella family, had kept Ad-
miral Cambiaso’s full-dress uniform with love and pride. Enrique Porcella León, a descendant of the admiral
to whom I was introduced by the doyenne of the consular corps, Clara Reid, allowed me to have the uniform
and Cambiaso memoirs photographed by the Italian photographer Giovanni Cavallaro (the photos appear in
Chapter 11). The discovery of these artifacts is one of the many curiosities and peculiarities to emerge while
I have been inlaying the varied pieces of this splendid mosaic—designed by our many contributors—which
holistically images the country’s Italian characteristics with flair and precision.
In order to create new relationships and once again cross the bridges built by the Italians who came here
over the past centuries, though, it is necessary to recognize these bridges. I therefore thought it important to
devote myself to the conception of a book that would seriously recount the various expressions of Italian in-
fluence in the Dominican Republic. It was a pleasure not only to meet so many scholars and to work with uni-
versities and cultural institutions but also to acquaint myself with many distinguished Dominican leaders, in-
cluding the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Milton Ray Guevara; the Archbishop of Santo Domingo,
Monsignor Francisco Ozoria Acosta; the Foreign Minister, Roberto Álvarez; the Minister of Industry, Trade
and Micro, Small and Medium Businesses, Ito Bisonó; and the President of the Dominican-Italian Chamber
of Commerce, Celso Marranzini, who were keen to take part in this project and offer their authoritative and
insightful viewpoints. All is crowned by the sovereign voice of the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis
Abinader, who in his distinguished Foreword shows how the message of strengthening relations with Italy
and rediscovering the roots of past cooperation to create future opportunities is also the guiding principle of
the new government. This goal was also articulated by the eminent Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Álvarez,
as speaker and guest of honor at the Dominican-Italian Chamber of Commerce on September 22, 2020, in the
first speech by a Dominican minister at an international event in Santo Domingo.
On that occasion the Foreign Affairs Minister publicly announced his commitment to resuming relations
with Italy, making this one of the political priorities of President Abinader’s government. (The Dominican
Foreign Ministry press release was significantly titled “Canciller Roberto Álvarez reafirma compromiso de RD
en relanzar relaciones con Italia.”) In order for the Dominican aim of strengthening ties with Italy to meet with
success, it is imperative to appreciate the historical links forged between the two countries over the centuries.
This is why I am convinced it is truly relevant that so many esteemed authors wanted to record the past by
taking part in the creation of this book, contributing to its success.
Many stories have been brought back to light, with no small gratitude to the work of this book’s authors.
I felt like an archaeologist faced with wonderful and fully intact testimonies, though hidden by the passage of
time, which had to be rediscovered and brought to light like an ancient temple hidden in the forest. But unlike
an archaeological discovery, that which is found here is not a dead ruin but a living résumé of the cultural,
political, religious, educative, economic, technological, and social histories of real individuals that still today
constitute one of the cornerstones of the Dominican Republic’s cultural identity.
The book opens with a fresco crafted by Frank Moya Pons, “The Italian Presence in Santo Domingo. 1492-
1900,” which contextualizes the importance of the various Italian contributions to the development of the
Dominican Republic, bringing to light the important role played by Genoese merchants over the centuries,
including the fundamental contribution of Giovanni Battista Vicini and his family, to whom the introduction
of technology for agricultural development is owed. This discussion is followed by two in-depth studies de-
riving from the local archives by Antonio J. Guerra Sánchez, “Italian Immigration to Santo Domingo and to