Manuel Salvador Gautier wins the 2011 National Book Fair Eduardo León Jimenes Award

Manuel Salvador Gautier wins the 2011 National Book Fair Eduardo León Jimenes Award
Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, 05/18/2011

The book “Dimensionando a Dios,” written by Manuel Salvador Gautier, was the winner of the 2011 National Book Fair Eduardo León Jimenes Award, bestowed annually by the Leon Jimenes Group, within the framework of this international literary event.

This is a work of fiction that explores a biographical extract of Juan Pablo Duarte’s life: the journey that today’s Forefather of the Nation made to Barcelona from 1829 to 1831.

This is a work of fiction that explores a biographical extract of Juan Pablo Duarte’s life: the journey that today’s Forefather of the Nation made to Barcelona from 1829 to 1831.

The decision was made by a jury made of renowned intellectuals Jeannette Miller, Adriano Miguel Tejada, and Jose del Castillo, who highlighted the quality of the work, which stood out from the 55 books that entered the competition this year, the highest number in the history of this award.

According to the jury’s decision, Gautier’s work stood out “due to its outstanding literary quality and its excellent narrative rhythm, which explores, using historical reality and fiction, Juan Pablo Duarte’s connection with Barcelona and the liberation movements of the time, which molded the patriotic ideas of the Forefather of the Nation.”

The jury also stressed that this work contributes to a better understanding of the noble figure, “whose biography contains still unexplored facets, and also enriches the narrative and the historical Dominican novel.”

Manuel Salvador Gautier received the award consisting of 450,000 pesos and an official certificate from the hands of Abel Wachsmann, President of the Leon Jimenes Group, who praised the significance that this award has for the Dominican literature, for local writers, and for the business consortium he chairs.

“It is very important for the Leon Jimenes Group to award this prize and to project the Dominican literature as part of our commitment to local cultural development, and we understand that building a better nation requires citizens to be more and more open to useful knowledge. Each year this award seeks to celebrate the contributions of our Dominican authors, who with their works contribute to the development of a people capable of understanding its past, a people more aware of its present, and most able to appreciate the complexity of life,” said Wachsmann.

About ther Author

Graduated as an Engineer-Architect from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), and with a Ph.D. in Architecture from the Universita degli Studi Roma, Italy, Manuel Salvador Gautier started writing in 1993, when he published the tetralogy “Tiempo para héroes,” made of the novels “El atrevimiento,” “Pormenores del exilio,” “La convergencia,” and “Monte adentro.”

Other titles by this author are: “Toda la vida,” “Serenata,” “La fatalidad no está en un campanario de París,” “Jaime al descubierto,” and “El asesino de las lluvias.” He has also won major literary awards, including the Victor Hugo in History Award; the Manuel de Jesús Galván Novel Award; Second Prize at the International Short Stories and Poetry Award, and the Citta of Viareggio Award.

He has published short essays in literary magazines and other media. On several occasions he has been a panelist at the International Book Fair of Santo Domingo, and a speaker during the presentation of various literary works.

In 2005 he was appointed Coordinator of the Mester Group of the Academy of the Dominican Language, which aims to disseminate the Dominican narrative; and in December of 2007 he was appointed Corresponding Member of the Academy of the Dominican Language, and Corresponding Member of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language.


Manuel Salvador Gautier receives the award from Abel Wachsmann, president of the Leon Jimenes Group, and Jose Rafael Lantigua, Minister of Culture.