Leopoldo Navarro

Leopoldo Navarro (1862 – July 12, 1908) was a Dominican Republic painter, educator, mathematician, and sculptor born in Santo Domingo in 1862. An impressionistic romantic, he is considered one of the forerunners of national Dominican plastic arts, as well as a notable educator.

He died on July 12, 1908, in Santo Domingo, at the age of 46. In the Museum Bellapart, a collection of Navarro's watercolors are displayed. An important street in Santo Domingo is also named after him.

Biography

Navarro was born in 1862 in Santo Domingo The son of a Dominican mother and Spanish father, at seven years old he became an orphan and entered in San Luis Gonzaga School, founded by the religious philanthropist Priest Francisco Xavier Billini, who became his guardian and mentor. He graduated from high school very young, soon entering the teaching career; known as an influential teacher, he had exceptional pedagogical gifts in both science and humanities, teaching in both branches and serving in leadership roles at the same school he was educated. Collaborator of Puerto Rican educator and philosopher Eugenio de Hostos, Navarro was directorate of the Normal School, established in 1880, until the school closed.

Gallery