Famous Dominican Leaders

Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina was a Dominican dictator. He ruled the Dominican Republic from 1930 to 1961, serving as president for 18 years and as an unelected military strongman for the rest of the time. While he was in power, the Dominican Republic witnessed large-scale violence and his 31-year-rule is regarded as one of the bloodiest eras in the Americas.

Máximo Gómez was a Cuban military man who served as the Major General in the Ten Years' War against Spain. He also served as a military commander in the Cuban War of Independence. Máximo Gómez is best remembered for his notorious scorched-earth policy which included torching the Spanish sugar plantations and dynamiting passenger trains.

Dominican author and politician José Núñez de Cáceres was behind the creation of the short-lived state of Spanish Haiti, which was taken over by Haiti after 2 months. He spent his later years in Venezuela and Mexico. He was also one of the first Creole fabulists and owned a satirical newspaper.