Manuel de Jesús Galván (13 January 1834 – 13 December 1910) was a

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

politician, diplomat, lawyer and academic who between the 1860s and the 1900s occupied many of the highest posts in his country's government and judicature, including Minister of Public Works,

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

, President of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, and Minister to the United States. He was also a journalist and political writer. His only novel, ''Enriquillo'' (1879, 1882; translated as ''The Cross and the Sword'', 1954), which tells the story of a native rebellion in the early days of the Spanish occupation of Hispaniola, holds a high place in 19th-century Latin American literature.

Childhood

Manuel de Jesús Galván was born in 1834 in the city of

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

, at a time when the whole island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

was under the control of the Republic of

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. In 1844, when he was 10, the Spanish-speaking part of the island rose up and declared its independence under the name of the

, remaining at war with Haiti for many years. Little is known of Galván's childhood and youth in these turbulent times except that it was then that his interest in literature and the law became clear.

Public life

In 1854 he founded an organization named Amantes de las Letras (or "Friends of Literature") together with a related periodical, ''El Oasis'', in which he wrote articles of a conservative tendency praising the culture of Spain and attacking Haiti. At this time he began his climb through the Dominican hierarchy with the help of well-placed connections. In 1859 he was appointed secretary, first to a diplomatic mission to Denmark, and then to General

Pedro Santana Pedro Santana y Familias, 1st Marquess of Las Carreras (June 29, 1801June 14, 1864) was a Dominican soldier and politician who served three times as the president of the First Dominican Republic (1844–1861) and was the first governor-genera ...

President of the Republic The President of the Republic is a title used for heads of state and/or heads of government in countries having republican form of government. Designation In most cases the president of a republic is elected, either: * by direct universal s ...

. Other posts he held during these years include Secretary of the Senate, Master-General of the Post Office, Minister of Public Works, and editor of the government periodical ''La Gazeta''. When Santana effected the reannexation of the Dominican Republic to Spain as a way of countering the Haitian threat, Galván founded another journal, ''La Razón'', and supported Santana's policy in it. Spanish rule only lasted a few years, and in 1865 the

Dominican Restoration War The Dominican Restoration War or the Dominican War of Restoration (), called War of Santo Domingo in Spain (''Guerra de Santo Domingo''),Losada, J. C. (2012). ''Batallas decisivas de la historia de España.'' Ed. Aguilar, pgs. 371-386. was a G ...

ended with the Republic being reinstated. Galván moved to

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, then still a Spanish possession, where he became Comptroller of Finances and wrote for the journals ''Boletín Mercantil'', ''El Buscapié'' and ''La Democracia''. Tumba_de_Manuel_de_Jesus_Galvan

He was made Spanish Consul to

Puerto Principe Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

in the Dominican Republic, then, having become an associate of the liberal politician

Ulises Francisco Espaillat Ulises Francisco Espaillat Quiñones (February 9, 1823 – April 25, 1878) was a 19th-century Dominican Republic liberal statesman and author. He served as president of the Dominican Republic from April 29, 1876, to October 5, 1876. Espaillat ...

, was given the post of

when Espaillat gained the presidency. He also headed the

from 1883 to 1889, was named as Minister to the United States in 1891, and as Foreign Minister again in 1893. He worked at the Derecho de Instituto Profesional from 1896 to 1902, teaching law. His fourth term as Foreign Minister, beginning in 1903, was his last public office. In 1910 he died in Puerto Rico, and seven years later his remains were returned to the Dominican Republic.

''Enriquillo''

Though Galván wrote several monographs on political and diplomatic questions, his literary reputation now rests entirely on his only novel, ''Enriquillo''. The action takes place in Hispaniola between the years 1503 and 1533. The

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piëce. The title o ...

, a

Taíno The Taíno are the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, Indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles and surrounding islands. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now The ...

cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

, is brought up as a Christian during the first years of the Spanish occupation. He is given a good education and engaged to another high-ranking Taíno, Mencía, but suffers many indignities and is cheated out of his inheritance. Finding no satisfaction in the law courts, he raises a rebellion and establishes a separate Taíno principality which successfully repels all Spanish attacks for several years. Eventually, through the advocacy of

Bartolomé de las Casas Bartolomé de las Casas, Dominican Order, OP ( ; ); 11 November 1484 – 18 July 1566) was a Spanish clergyman, writer, and activist best known for his work as an historian and social reformer. He arrived in Hispaniola as a layman, then became ...

at the Spanish court,

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

recognises the independence of Enriquillo's state, and he is allowed to live his last years in peace. The first volume was published in 1879, and the complete novel in 1882. Its historical details are in part derived from the works of Bartolomé de las Casas,

Juan de Castellanos Juan de Castellanos (March 9, 1522 – November 1606)Ju ...

, and Fernández de Oviedo; it also, according to

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were b ...

, shows the literary influence of

Charles Reade Charles Reade (8 June 1814 – 11 April 1884) was a British novelist and dramatist, best known for the 1861 historical novel '' The Cloister and the Hearth''. Life Charles Reade was born at Ipsden, Oxfordshire, to John Reade and Anne Marie Sco ...

's ''

The Cloister and the Hearth ''The Cloister and the Hearth'' (1861) is an historical novel by the British author Charles Reade. Set in the 15th century, it relates the travels of a young scribe and illuminator, Gerard Eliassoen, through several European countries. ''The C ...

''. The novel can be seen as a vindication of his early support for reannexation by Spain, an assertion that the power of the Spanish crown could be invoked as a safeguard of Dominican liberty. It also reflects Galván's sympathy with the plight of the Taíno, but his respect for historical authenticity prevented him from picturing them in an overly idealised, Rousseauesque manner, as was fashionable at the time. The simplicity of the novel's prose style and purity of its language have been widely praised. It is considered one of the best Latin American historical novels, and it singlehandedly put Galván among the foremost Spanish American novelists of his time. An English version of ''Enriquillo'' was published under the title ''The Cross and the Sword'', ostensibly translated by

though in fact it was largely the work of his second wife, Beryl, with some polishing of the prose by Graves.

Footnotes

References

* * * * * *

External links

''Enriquillo'' in the original Spanish
at the

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