Biographies

Writer, historian and politician, he was born in La Vega on June 30, 1909, and died in Santo Domingo on November 1, 2001. He was the son of Spaniard Jose Bosch and Puerto Rican Angela Gaviño. He began his formal education in Rio Verde, La Vega. At the age of 7, he entered San Sebastian School of La Vega, where he completed primary and middle schools between 1916 and 1924. He entered the work force during his adolescence, working for several commercial companies in Santo Domingo

His intellectual curiosity was fed at a very early age during temporary working migrations to several countries. In 1930, he traveled to Spain, and then Venezuela, Curacao, Martinique and Trinidad and Tobago. In these countries, he held jobs that ranged from truck loader to show presenter at an amusement park. A year later, he returned to Santo Domingo and started secondary school. He was only in his third year of high school when he started to stand out as a man of letters. For that reason, distinguished humanist Pedro Henriquez Ureña, who had returned to the country to serve as the General Superintendent of Education, introduced him to the reading of Horacio Quiroga, Guy de Maupassant and other teachers of European and Latin American short stories. He published his first volume of short stories, entitled “Camino Real” in 1933, and later, in 1936, he published his first novel, “La Mañosa.

As a writer and citizen, he assumed a protagonist role in the opposition generated by Rafael Leonidas Trujillo’s dictatorship.  In 1937 he decided to leave the country. He moved first to Puerto Rico, then to Costa Rica, Bolivia, Chile and Caracas, establishing his permanent residency in Cuba. In 1939, he joined a group of enemies of the Trujillo dictatorship and founded the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). After Trujillo’s assassination, in 1961, he returned to the country and became, along with this political party, the main organized political force. He won the presidential elections held on December 20, 1962. On February 27, 1963, he was inaugurated as President of the Republic, but seven months later he was deposed by a military coup that forced him to exile in Puerto Rico. In 1973, he separated from the PRD and founded the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD). Under his leadership and orientation, the PLD won the elections of August 16, 1996, taking Dr. Leonel Fernandez Reyna to the presidency.

Bosch produced more than 50 works of literature, including his historical and political writing. Some of them have been translated into French, English, Portuguese, German, Italian and Dutch. In particular, he stood out as a short story writer. He is considered the most prominent Dominican short story writer and one of the great voices in contemporary Latin American short story.

Active Bibliography

 
Short Stories

• Camino real. La Vega: Imprenta el Progreso, 1933.
  
• Dos pesos de agua. La Habana: Editor A. Ríos, 1941.
  
• Ocho cuentos. La Habana: Edición del autor, 1947.
  
• La muchacha de la Guaira. Santiago de Chile: Editorial Nacimiento, 1955.
  
• Cuentos de navidad. Santiago de Chile: Editorial Nacimiento, 1956.
  
• Cuentos escritos en el exilio. Santo Domingo: Colección Pensamiento Dominicano, 1962.
  
• Más cuentos escritos en el exilio. Santo Domingo: Colección Pensamiento Dominicano, 1964.
  
• Cuentos escritos antes del exilio. Santo Domingo: Colección Pensamiento Dominicano, 1975.
  
• Cuentos. La Habana: Casa de las Américas, 1983.
  
• Vers le port d’origene. París: Ediciones Alinea, 1988.

Novels

• La mañosa. Santiago, R.D.: Imprenta El Diario, 1936. El oro y la paz. Santo Domingo: Alfa y Omega, 1975.

Essays

• Indios. Santo Domingo: Editorial La Nación, 1935.
  
• Mujeres en la vida de Hostos. Puerto Rico: Edición de la Asociación de Mujeres Graduadas de Puerto Rico, 1938.
  
• Hostos, el sembrador. La Habana: Editorial Trópico, 1939.
  
• Cuba, la isla fascinante. Santiago de Chile: Editorial Universitaria, 1955.
  
• Judas Iscariote, el calumniado. Santiago de Chile: Editorial Universitaria, 1955.
  
• Apuntes sobre el arte de escribir cuentos. Caracas: Revista Shell, 1958.
  
• Trujillo: causas de una tiranía sin ejemplo. Caracas: Edición Librería Las Novedades, 1959. Simón Bolivar: biografía para escolares. Caracas: Editora Escolar, 1960.
  
• David, biografía de un Rey. Santo Domingo: Colección Pensamiento Dominicano, 1963. Apuntes para una interpretación de la historia costarricense. San José de Costa Rica, 1963.
  
• Crisis de la democracia de América en la República Dominicana. México: Edición del Centro de Estudios y Documentación Social, 1964.
  
• Bolivar y la guerra social. Buenos Aires, 1966.
  
• Pentagonismo, sustituto del imperialismo. Santo Domingo: Publicaciones Ahora, 1968. Dictadura con respaldo popular. Santo Domingo: Publicaciones Ahora, 1969.
  
• De Cristóbal colón a Fidel Castro. Madrid: Ediciones Alfaguara, 1970.
  
• Breve historia de la oligarquía. Santo Domingo: Publicaciones Ahora, 1970.
  
• Composición social dominicana. Santo Domingo: Colección Pensamiento y Cultura, 1970.
  
• Tres conferencia sobre feudalismo. Santo domingo: Publicaciones Ahora, 1971.
  
• La revolución haitiana. Santo Domingo: Colección Estudios Sociales, 1971.
  
• De México a Capuchea. Santo Domingo: Publicaciones Ahora, 1975.
  
• El Napoleón de las guerrillas. Santo Domingo: Editora Alfa y Omega, 1976.
  
• Viaje a las antípodas. Santo Domingo: Editora Alfa y Omega, 1978.
  
• Conferencias y artículos. Santo Domingo: Editora Alfa y Omega, 1980.
  
• La revolución de abril. Santo Domingo: Editora Alfa y Omega, 1980.
  
• La guerra de la Restauración. Santo Domingo: Editora Alfa y Omega, 1980.
  
• Perfil político de Pedro Santana. Santo Domingo: Colección Estudios Sociales, 1982.
  
• Clases sociales en la República Dominicana. Santo Domingo: Editora Corripio, 1983.
  
• apitalismo, democracia y liberación nacional. Santo Domingo: Editora Alfa y Omega, 1983.
  
• La fortuna de Trujillo. Santo Domingo: Editora Alfa y Omega, 1985.
  
• La pequeña burguesía en la historia de la República Dominicana. Santo Domingo: Editora Alfa y Omega, 1985.
  
• Capitalismo tardío en la República Dominicana. Santo domingo: Editora Alfa y Omega, 1986.
  
• Máximo Gómez: de Monte Cristi a la gloria. Santo Domingo: Editora Alfa y Omega, 1986.
  
• El Estado, sus orígenes y desarrollo. Santo Domingo: Editora Alfa y Omega, 1987.
  Textos culturales y literarios. Santo Domingo: Editora