page_title: José Gabriel García
section_title: Los Amantes de las Letras Society
hierarchical_section_title: José Gabriel García / Los Amantes de las Letras Society
caption_attribution_description: English: Manuel de Jesus Garcia (born 1834)
context_page_description: José Gabriel García was a Dominican military, historian, politician, journalist and publisher. He is regarded as a cultural pioneer as well as the "Father of Dominican History". He is the author of "Compendium of History of Santo Domingo" written in four volumes in 1867, 1887, 1900 and 1906 respectively and made numerous contributions in the fields of culture, literature and education.
  He is the founder of the first Dominican university, the Professional Institute, co-founder of the country's first private printing and publishing company, Garcia Hermanos and founder of the country's first cultural society, "Los Amantes de las Letras", responsible for establishing the first Dominican theatre and publishing the first Dominincan cultural newspaper "El Oasis", as well as the first Dominican magazine.
context_section_description: In 1854, José Gabriel García founded and was the first president of the Amantes de las Letras Society along with poet Manuel Rodríguez Objio and Manuel de Jesús Galván which was the first cultural society in Dominican Republic and created with the purpose of advancing the intellectual progress of the country by providing access to books, newspapers and magazines. The founding of this first cultural society also gives rise to modern Dominican literature.
  The society published the newspaper El Oasis in 1854, which was the first cultural newspaper in the country along with the newspaper El Progreso, covering topics such as literature, religion, customs and culture. In 1859 the society published the first Dominican magazine: La Revista Quincenal Dominicana, which had a political-literary character. A year later, Los Amantes de las Letras published the newspaper Flores del Ozama.
  In 1860, the society established the first Dominican theatre with a purely artistic orientation. It was located in the former Church of the Jesuits (today National Pantheon) and presented the works of the most notable Spanish and French authors, as well as of national authors such as Félix María del Monte. The theater was inaugurated on October 13, 1860 with the staging of the drama "Los dos Virreyes" by José Zorrilla and the comedy "Zapatero a tus zapatos" and playing as actors: Alejandro Román, Luis Betances, Francisco Javier Miura and brothers Manuel de Jesús and José Gabriel García
  José Gabriel García was a member of the Junta Nacional Colombina (1893); corresponding member of the Academia Nacional de la Historia de Venezuela and honorary member of the Academia Nacional de la Historia de la República de Colombia
  His writings have been published in newspapers and magazines in Venezuela, Curaçao, Cuba, Spain, the United States and the Dominican Republic.
  José Gabriel García had the opportunity to witness and be a protagonist of some of the events in his works.
caption: Manuel de Jesús García
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