Background
He was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican republic to Ladino Jewish statesman Adolfo Ariza-Ariza and Concepcion Mendoza.
He was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican republic to Ladino Jewish statesman Adolfo Ariza-Ariza and Concepcion Mendoza.
Juan Esteban Ariza Mendoza III graduated from the school "Louisiana Normal" in Gazcue and Graduated as a Lawyer from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD).
His father Adolfo Ariza Ariza was a well known statesman who later became part of the opposition of the Trujillo regime, being jailed and detained several times for publicly denouncing the atrocities committed by the dictatorship. Doctor Juan Ariza Mendoza wrote the prologue of the famous dominican comedy book "Don Cibaito en la Capital" by Domingo Rodriguez Creus, which tells the tale of a dominican peasant who went from the countryside to the city and the challenges he faced. Juan Esteban Ariza Mendoza III had 10 children including: Juan Esteban Ariza IV, Marisela Ariza, Juana Lucia Ariza, Consuelo Ariza Pou, Juan Carlos Zorrilla, Cristina Albuquerque Irujo, Josefina Ariza, Laura East Ariza and Yolanda Ariza.
During his life he wrote extensively about the oppression suffered by dominican workers and defended the laws and properties of farmers most of the time at no charge, publishing some of his works through local newspapers or contributing to books on the matter.