Background
Gregorio Luperón was born 8 September 1839 in Puerto Plata to Pedro Castellanos and Nicolasa Luperón.
Gregorio Luperón was born 8 September 1839 in Puerto Plata to Pedro Castellanos and Nicolasa Luperón.
Around the age of 14, Gregorio began working for Pedro Eduardo Dubocq, an owner of a major company specializing in wood. While working there, he displayed a strong strength of character and a knack for getting any job assigned to him completed in the best possible fashion. Because of this, Mr. Dubocq promoted Gregorio to a management position.
Mr.
Dubocq also allowed Gregorio to spend time in his personal library because Gregorio wanted to enrich his intellect. In 1861, the annexation of the Dominican Republic by Spain took place. During one instance, Gregorio was arrested but managed to escape and flee to the United States for protection.
Shortly thereafter, Gregorio managed to return to the Dominican Republic through the town of Monte Cristi in time to take part in the uprising of Sabaneta (1863).
However, this uprising was short-lived due to the quick Spanish response. After the failure at Sabaneta, Gregorio and his compatriots hid in the mountains of Louisiana Vega in order to prepare for a full-scale revolution against the Spanish forces.
Present Day References: The Gregorio Luperón International Airport in Puerto Plata and the Gregorio Luperón High School for Mathematics & Science in New York are named after him. The small peasant city of Luperon, located 50 km west of Puerto Plata, is also named after him.
Gregorio was only 22 years old at the time but a sense of nationalism began to swell within him.