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THE ITALIAN LEGACY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
318
losses suffered. In 1856, Giovanni Battista Maggiolo returned to Genoa. His sons later made the return trip to
settle permanently in Santo Domingo. Bartolomeo Maggiolo Pellerano fathered Manuel Américo Maggiolo
Ravelo, who in turn begat Mercedes Rosa Maggiolo Núñez as his daughter, who married Francisco Javier
Veloz Molina. These are the parents of Marcio Veloz Maggiolo. Today there is an honorary Marcio Veloz
Maggiolo Chair at the University of Milan, which is dedicated to Dominican studies in Italy.
Veloz Maggiolo’s list of published works is as varied as it is extensive. His collections of poetry include
El
sol y las cosas
(1957),
Intus
(1962, Premio Nacional de Poesía/National Poetry Award),
La palabra reunida
(1981),
and
Apearse de la máscara
(1986), as well as the complete collected works of poetry:
La sonora armonía–poesía
reunida
(2016). He has also written works for children and younger readers that include
De dónde vino la gente
(1978),
El jefe iba descalzo
(1993),
La verdadera historia de Aladino
(2007),
Las bodas de Caperucita
(2008),
Ladridos
de luna llena
(2008), and
La iguanita azul
(2012). He is the author of various short story anthologies, such as
El prófugo
(1962);
Creonte: seis relatos
(1963, which includes a one-act play);
La fértil agonía del amor
(1982, Pre-
mio Nacional de Cuento/National Short Story Award);
Cuentos, recuentos y casi cuentos
(1986); and
Palabras
de ida y vuelta
(2006), as well as the novella
La dictadura y su magia
(2009) and the anthology
Cuentos para otros
milenios
(2000). Veloz Maggiolo is also a highly prolific novelist, having published the following works:
El buen
ladrón
(1960);
Judas
(1962, Premio Nacional de Novela/ National Novel Award);
La vida no tiene nombre
(1965);
Los ángeles de hueso
(1967);
De abril en adelante
(1975);
La biografía difusa de Sombra Castañeda
(1981, Premio Na-
cional de Novela);
Florbella
(1986);
Materia prima
(1988, Premio Nacional de Novela/ National Novel Award);
Ritos de cabaret
(1991, Premio Nacional de Novela);
Uña y carne. Memoria de la virilidad
(1999);
El hombre del
acordeón
(2003);
La mosca soldado
(2004);
Memoria tremens
(2009);
Confesiones de un guionista
(2009);
Los dueños de
la memoria
(2014);
El sueño de Juliansón
(2014); and
La Navidad: memorias de un naufragio
(2016). In addition to the
aforementioned awards, he won the Caonabo de Oro in 1994 and the National Literature Prize in 1996, for all
of his work, part of which has been translated into Italian, English, French, and German.
His scientific and critical works, and other scholarly writings include:
Cultura, teatro y relatos en Santo
Domingo
(1969);
Arqueología prehistórica de Santo Domingo
(1972);
Medio ambiente y adaptación humana en la
prehistoria de Santo Domingo
(two volumes, 1975-1976);
Sobre cultura dominicana y otras culturas
(1977);
Arte
indígena y economía en Santo Domingo
(1977);
Las sociedades arcaicas de Santo Domingo
(1980);
Sobre cultura y
política cultural en la República Dominicana
(1980
)
;
La arqueología de la vida cotidiana
(1981);
Panorama histórico
del Caribe precolombino
(1990);
La isla de Santo Domingo antes de Colón
(1993);
Archeologia della scoperta colombia-
na
(Rome, 1994);
Trujillo, Villa Francisca y otros fantasmas
(1996, Premio Feria Nacional del Libro 1997);
Barril
sin fondo: antropología para curiosos
(1996);
Historia, arte y cultura en las Antillas precolombina
(1999);
La memoria
fermentada: ensayos bioliterarios
(2000);
Antropología portátil
(2001);
Santo Domingo en la novela dominicana
(an-
thology, 2002);
El bolero: visiones y perfiles de una pasión dominicana
(2005; in collaboration);
Mestizaje, identidad
y cultura
(2006);
Historia de la cultura dominicana: momentos formativos
(2012); and
Memorias reversibles
(2012).
It is obviously impossible to give an exhaustive account of such a vast and diverse portfolio of works,
even more so in these few pages. Therefore, we will choose a specific perspective, employing a few titles
from this immense bibliography. There is, however, one nearly constant feature: the writings of Marcio
Veloz Maggiolo revolve around memory, in all of its variations, from history to fantasy, that is nourished
upon the infinite forms and versions that each witness or character or epoch, according to his point of view,
believes to be true or recognizes as being fabricated. It should also be noted that individual memory, collec-
tive memory, apocrypha, and the vicarious (intertwined or inserted by others) become fused, and thus the
memory fixed by historians and the one transmitted by popular culture, and the dissenting understanding,
all become united and confused within a magical mindset. It is a great fermentation that continues to compli-
cate itself with the passage of time, a kind of intoxication that makes the stories ambiguous and multifaceted,
as they are built from the fragments of this infinite plurality.
By the time Marcio Veloz Maggiolo had written his first short novels, this underlying thematic mood
had already been active in some way. In
El buen ladrón
(The Good Thief, 1960), the narrating voice is that
Opening page:
Architect A. Marcio
Veloz Maggiolo,
“Italians in Dominican
Life,”
El Siglo,
” October
27, 2001, 6E.
© Juan Bosch Library -
Funglode