The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic

409

DR. RAFFAELE CIFERRI’S CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

to Moca. Rafael A. Espaillat, Secretary of State for Agriculture and Immigration, referred in the

Memoria

for

1926 to the reinstallation of the School of Agriculture in the fertile Province of Moca. The rehabilitation and

activation of the two institutes, as we have seen, was conceived by the administration of Horacio Vásquez

(1924–1930) within the framework of a development strategy designed to implement a culture of modern

agriculture in the Dominican Republic.

From the dual facilities in Moca, Dr. Ciferri carried out research and communications in collaboration with

diverse scientists from Italy, Spain, Cuba, and a number of countries in the Americas. He promoted the hiring

of Dr. Erik Leonard Ekman, a Swedish botanist with whom Ciferri developed a deep friendship that endured

until Ekman’s death in January 1931. Ekman had accomplished extraordinary work on the island since 1917;

for a decade he carried out botanical explorations in Haiti and parts of the Dominican Republic under the aus-

pices of the Berlin Museum and Botanical Garden and the Botanical Department of the Stockholm Imperial

Museum.

When his work with these institutions was complete, he began in 1928 to work for the Dominican

government. He continued to explore other zones that he had not previously visited, effecting botanical stud-

ies for the National Agronomic Station that Ciferri directed, and giving an unparalleled boost to the systematic

study of Dominican flora.

Plans and Achievements under Ciferri’s Direction

Moving the agronomic station to Moca was certainly advantageous, although in the short term it delayed the

projects that had already been initiated in San Cristóbal in 1925. In effect, Law No. 372 of March 1, 1926 allo-

cated $60,000 for the “establishment of the School of Agriculture and the National Agronomic Station in the

commune of Moca, Province of Espaillat,” which immediately activated the move to the new facility. It took

nearly half a year to accomplish the “dismantling of material and plants from the Laboratories, Station, and

College” and prepare them adequately to be transported. When they arrived in Moca, however, the buildings

were neither completed nor ready to receive them. Law No. 636 of April 28, 1927 approved the program of

16 subjects to be taught in the Agricultural College and established two degrees to be awarded: a Bachelor in

Agricultural Sciences, for completion of the entire program, and a title of Expert Agronomist that could be

obtained after the Bachelor’s degree by performing an additional year as an intern in the same College.

Being director of the College and Station meant intensive work. In the College, Ciferri was also a professor,

assigned to teach courses in Plant Pathology and Botany, with theoretical lessons and practical exercises. At

the same time, duties associated with the Station included a great many consultations, both oral and written,

regarding a plethora of cases, some brought to him in person and others received in the mail. For each of these

inquiries, according to Dr. Ciferri himself, there was a need for “chemical analyses, microscopic determina-

tions, or experimentation, not to mention a bibliographic search.”

All of this is in addition to the research

that he carried out as part of the regular program as defined by the Station, which did not neglect anything

that could be of interest for the betterment of agricultural performance. Ciferri was in charge of the phyto-

pathologic laboratory and the phytopathology and mycology collections, among other duties. He was also

expected “to institute a service of plant sanitation and quarantine treatment in the Republic.”

Ciferri was not alone. In addition to the technicians who arrived with him, he collaborated with a group of

scientists that he organized shortly thereafter. Together they constituted a formidable interdisciplinary team

that overcame and vanquished even the most difficult tasks. If anything can be said to characterize Ciferri’s

work, it is that it was always carried out as a team; each was responsible for approaching the task from his

respective specialty, and then each presented and discussed the results of his studies with the director and with

the rest of his colleagues. This can be seen in the way the Laboratories and Sections present their respective

tasks in the work logs of the National Agronomic Station. Further, Ciferri had a gift for integrating professors

and graduates, as well as other related persons, into a network of collaborators, each one contributing with

reports and knowledge, and using all available means to meet the demands of the institution’s broad vision.