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Juan Bosch Gaviño: 1909-2001: Author, Politician

Works Honored Before And After Death



Gaviño published more than 50 books, including novels, collections of short stories and essays, histories, and biographies, as well as contributions to anthologies and prologues for other texts. Many of his writings have been translated into various languages and reprinted often. Some of his books, particularly his biographies, are used as textbooks throughout Latin America. Many of his essays originally were published in the periodicals Vanguardia del Pueblo, Politica—Teoria y Accion, and Hablan los Comunistas, between 1974 and 1985. Excerpts from Trujillo: Causas de una tiranía sin ejemplo were published as La fortuna de Trujillo in Santo Domingo in 1985.



In 1988 Gaviño received a short-story award from the FNAC Foundation in France. During the 1980s he made several trips to Cuba and in 1989 Fidel Castro presented him with the José Martí Order. In 1993 he was awarded an honorary degree by New York City College. The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater of New York City produced a dramatization of five of Gaviño's short stories, including "The Beautiful Soul of Don Damián," in 1998.

Gaviño died of respiratory failure on November 1, 2001, in a Santo Domingo hospital. He laid in state at the National Palace and was buried in La Vega. For many Dominicans Gaviño embodied pride in their nation and hope for its future. Amy Coughenour Betancourt, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told the Miami Herald: "The Dominican Republic lost one of its greatest thinkers and visionaries of all time. Gaviño's legacy of literature, political thought, and leadership with regard to human rights, political rights and freedoms, and social and economic development is indelible. He has left behind a vision for what the country can become, and has left his mark on generations of leaders now and yet to come."


Selected writings


Fiction


Camino real, R. A. Ramos (La Vega, Dominican Republic), 1933; revised edition, El Diario (Santiago, Dominican Republic), 1937.

La mañosa: Novela de las revoluciones, El Diario, 1936.

Dos pesos de agua, cuentos A. Ríos (Havana), 1941.

Ocho cuentos, Trópico (Havana), 1947.

La muchacha de La Guaira; cuentos, Nascimiento (Santiago, Chile), 1955.

Cuento de Navidad, Ercilla (Santiago, Chile), 1956.

Cuentos escritos en el exilio y apuntes sobre el arte de escribir cuentos, Librería Dominicana (Santo Domingo), 1962.

Más cuentos escritos en el exilio, Librería Dominicana, 1964.

Cuentos escritos ante del exilio, Edición Especial (Santo Domingo), 1974.

El oro y la paz, Edición Especial, 1977.

Cuentos, Casa de Las Américas (Havana), 1983.

"The Beautiful Soul of Don Damián," in Rhythm and Revolt: Tales of the Antilles, Plume, 1995.

"Encarnacion Mendoza's Christmas Eve," in The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories, Oxford University Press, 1999.


Nonfiction


Indios: Apuntes históricos y leyendas, La Nación (Santo Domingo), 1935.

Mujeres en la vida de Hostos, Asociación de Mujeres Graduadas de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1938.

Hostos, el sembrador, Trópico, 1939.

De espaldas a mi mismo: Conceptos laudatorios sobre la obra de gobierno del generalisimo Trujillo Molina, Partido Dominicano (Ciudad Trujillo, Dominican Republic), 1942.

Judas Iscariote: El calumniado, Prensa Latinoamericana (Santiago, Chile), 1955.

Trujillo: Causas de una tiranía sin ejemplo, Librería Las Novedades (Caracas), 1959.

Símon Bolívar: Biografia para escolares, Escolar (Caracas), 1960.

Apuntes para una interpretación de la historia costarricense, Eloy Morúa Carrillo (San José, Costa Rica), 1963; revised, Una interpretación de la historia costarricense, Juricentro (San José), 1980.

The Unfinished Experiment: Democracy in the Dominican Republic, Praeger, 1965.

David: The Biography of a King, Hawthorn Books, 1966.

Teoría del cuento: Tres ensayos, Universidad de Los Andes, (Mérida, Venezuela), 1967.

Pentagonism: A Substitute for Imperialism, Grove Press, 1968.

Composición social dominicana: Historia e interpretación, Colección Pensamiento y Cultura (Santo Domingo), 1970.

De Cristóbal Colón a Fidel Castro: El Caribe, frontera imperial, Alfaguara (Madrid), 1970.

Breve historia de la oligarquía, Impresora Arte y Cine, 1971.

Tres conferencias sobre el feudalismo, Talleres Gráficos (Santo Domingo), 1971.

El Napoleón de las guerrillas, Editorial de Ciencias Sociales (Havana), 1976.

Viaje a los antípodas, Alfa y Omega, 1978.

Articulos y conferencias, Alfa y Omega, 1980.

La Revolución de Abril, Impresora Mercedes (Santo Domingo), 1981.

La guerra y la restauración, Corripio, 1982.

Capitalismo, democracia y liberación nacional, Alfa y Omega, 1983.

La fortuna de Trujillo, Alfa y Omega, 1985.

Capitalismo tardio en la República Dominicana, Alfa y Omega, 1986.

El estado, Alfa y Omega, Santo Domingo, 1987.

Capitalismo y democracia, Alfa y Omega, 1988.

El PLD: Partido nuevo en América, Alfa y Omega, 1989.

Temas económicos, Alfa y Omega, 1990.

Breve historia de los pueblos arabe, Alfa y Omega, 1991.

(With Avelino Stanley Rondon) Antologia personal, University of Puerto Rico Press, 1998.

En primera persona: Entrevistas con Juan Bosch, Comision Permanente de la Feria del Libro, 2000.


Sources

Books


Peacock, Scot, editor, Hispanic Writers, 2nd ed., Gale Group, 1999, pp. 110-112.

Periodicals


Financial Times, (London) November 2, 2001, p. 12.

Journal of Politics, August, 1965, pp. 671-673.

Miami Herald, November 2, 2001.

NACLA Report on the Americas, March-April 1997, pp. 24-25.

New York Times, November 2, 2001, D9.

Seattle Times, September 9, 1986, A12.

Time, May 28, 1990, p. 39.


On-line


"Juan Bosch," Afiwi, www.afiwi.com/people2.asp ?id=162 (April 7, 2003).

"Juan Bosch: The Long Road to Transcendence," Granma International, http://granmai.co.cu/ingles/septiem4/30Gaviño-i.html (April 7, 2003).

—Margaret Alic

Additional topics

Brief BiographiesBiographies: E(mily) R. Frank (1967-) Biography - Personal to Martha Graham (1893–1991) BiographyJuan Bosch Gaviño: 1909-2001: Author, Politician Biography - Wrote Early Stories About Rural Peasants, Exiled For 24 Years, Became Politically Active, Short Presidency Impeded By International Factions