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Rafael Filiberto Bonnelly | |
|---|---|
 Portrait,c. 1962 | |
| 42nd President of the Dominican Republic | |
| In office 18 January 1962 – 27 February 1963 | |
| Vice President | Eduardo Read Barrera (1962) Nicolas Pichardo (1962–1963) |
| Preceded by | Joaquín Balaguer |
| Succeeded by | Juan Bosch |
| 25th Vice President of the Dominican Republic | |
| In office 3 August 1960 – 18 January 1962 | |
| President | Joaquín Balaguer |
| Preceded by | Joaquín Balaguer |
| Succeeded by | Eduardo Read Barrera |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1904-08-22)22 August 1904 Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic |
| Died | 28 December 1979(1979-12-28) (aged 75) Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |
| Political party | PRD (1960–1979) |
| Other political affiliations | Dominican (1940–1960) |
| Spouse | [1] |
| Relations | Furcy Fondeur LaJeneusse (grandfather) |
| Children | 4[2] |
| Alma mater | Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo |
| Profession |
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Rafael Filiberto Bonnelly Fondeur (22 August 1904 – 28 December 1979) was a Dominican politician, lawyer, scholar, diplomat who served as the 42ndpresident of the Dominican Republic from 1962 until 1963. Previously, he was the 25thvice president under PresidentJoaquín Balaguer from 1960 to 1962.
Rafael Filiberto Bonnelly Fondeur was born to Carlos Sully Bonnelly Arnaud and Luisa Fondeur inSantiago de los Caballeros, theDominican Republic. Bonnelly was born into a family ofCorsican[3][4] andFrench descent,[4][5] descendants of white colonists that settled briefly inSaint-Domingue prior theHaitian Revolution, two generations of the Bonnelly family lived inCharlotte Amalie,Saint Thomas, and then they moved to theCibao region in the Dominican Republic.[citation needed] While the origins of hisFondeur family was said to be born inBordeaux andParis (between 1812 and 1818, proposed Penzo), they may have arrived at the years ofEspaña Boba(Foolish Spain) or during the Haitian occupation (for the author cited between 1819 and 1822).[5]
Bonnelly obtained his baccalaureate in Law on March 27, 1926, from the university ofSanto Domingo. He became a teacher at the Normal School in Santo Domingo from 1926 to 1930. Bonnelly married his former student,Aida Mercedes Batlle, in 1930.[1] The couple had four children during their marriage: Luisa Amelia, Rafael Francisco, Juan Sully and Aida María.[1] Bonnelly was also the uncle of fashion designerSully Bonnelly.
Bonnelly's first foray into public life was his participation in the revolt against PresidentHoracio Vásquez in 1930, led by Dr.Rafael Estrella Ureña, and supported by then head of the Army, GeneralRafael Trujillo. Bonnelly later became a Deputy at the National Congress, but rapidly had a falling out with Trujillo, who had deported Dr. Estrella Ureña and assumed the Presidency of the Country, after publicly voting against an Education bill sent by the dictator to Congress.
His fall out with Trujillo in 1931 led to a 12-year professional hiatus, in which Bonnelly was prevented from working as a lawyer. The return of Dr. Estrella Ureña to the Dominican Republic in 1942, under an amnesty granted by Trujillo, led to Bonnelly's reappearance into Dominican public life as a Senator, between 1942 and 1944. After Dr. Ureña's death in 1945, Bonnelly started an ascending career as a public servant, which culminated with his naming as President of the Dominican Republic in January 1962.
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During these years, Bonnelly held the following posts:
1944–46 Minister of the Interior; 1946–48 Minister of Labor; 1948–49 Attorney General; 1949–53 Dean of the University of Santo Domingo; 1949–53 Professor of Constitutional and Civil Law; 1953–54 Prime Minister; 1954 Minister of Education; 1954–56 Ambassador to Spain; 1956–57 Minister of Justice, 1957–59 Ambassador to Venezuela; 1960–62 vice-president of the Dominican Republic.
Bonnelly's main achievement as president was to organize the Dominican Republic's first free elections after the end of the 30-year-long Trujillo dictatorship, in which Dr. Juan Bosch was elected. But, during his brief but intensive Presidency, Bonnelly's Government wrote and passed some of the principal legislation in the country, such as the Banking and Housing laws, which are still used.
In 1966, Bonnelly made an unsuccessful run for the presidency in an election which was won by Dr.Joaquín Balaguer, with strong backing from the government of American PresidentLyndon Johnson. Bonnelly and Balaguer were friends in their early days, and served together in several posts during the Trujillo dictatorship, but they became political opponents after Balaguer was ousted from the Presidency in 1961, being substituted by Bonnelly, his vice-president at the time.
Bonnelly's last public bout with Balaguer was a national display of penmanship between the two leaders, right after the national elections of May 1978. Seeing that Balaguer'sPartido Reformista was losing the elections, Balaguer's generals raided the Electoral Board and stopped the vote counting, sinking the country in a state of unrest and uncertainty. During two weeks, Bonnelly and Balaguer engaged in a public debate published in the main newspapers of the country, which ended with Balaguer accepting his defeat and proclaimingAntonio Guzmán, the candidate for thePartido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD) and the President-Elect.
In the summer of 1979, he was awarded the Doctorate Honoris Causa by thePontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), the leading private university in the country. On December 28, 1979, Dr. Rafael Bonnelly died of cancer in his home in Santo Domingo.
Dedicó años investigando todo lo referente al apellido Bonnelly y sus orígenes históricos. Fue quien organizó exitosamente los dos encuentros de las distintas ramas de esta gran familia, realizados hace varios años. Viajó a Córcega tierra de origen del primer Bonnelly que se asentó en la República Dominicana, e hizo un levantamiento de sus ancestros. Interesado en la unidad familiar de los Bonnelly estaba escribiendo un libro para dejarlo como legado. Sus restos mortales serán traídos en los próximos días a la ciudad de Santo Domingo, República Dominicana.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Vice President of the Dominican Republic 1960 – 1962 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Civic-Military Council | President of the Dominican Republic 1962 – 1963 | Succeeded by |
