MARÍA UGARTE: Special Dedication at the 5th ÁGORA MALL Mini Book Fair

MARÍA UGARTE: Special Dedication at the 5th ÁGORA MALL Mini Book Fair
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 03/272014

The 5th ÁGORA MALL MINI BOOK FAIR (FIL-AM) will hold a Special Dedication to writer, colonial researcher, journalism teacher, and promoter of literary generations MARÍA UGARTE on the occasion of the Commemoration of the centenary of her birth (1914-2014). The Tribute will take place on Sunday, March 30th, at 4:30 pm, at the outdoor terrace of The Garden, located on the 4th level of the Plaza, under the coordination of renowned cultural manager, publisher, and art dealer Verónica Sención, cultural advisor of this important shopping center.

María Ugarte was born in Segovia, Spain in 1914. She was a prolific literate, journalist, history researcher, and colonial research expert, to which she devoted herself when she worked in the 40s as Lawyer Julio Ortega Frier’s Research Assistant, upon her arrival in the country in exile, as a result of the Spanish Civil War. In her country of origin she studied Philosophy at Central University of Madrid (1935), specializing in History Sciences. During her research fellowships at the General Archive of the Nation she discovered the unpublished scrolls of the Royal Archive of Bayaguana (1607-1920), for the town of the same name, which was established following the Osorio Evictions (1605-1606), in the eastern part of the Island of Santo Domingo.

She worked for the legendary newspaper El Caribe, as a reporter and editor since April 1948, performing her duties as Assistant Managing Editor, Director of the cultural supplement (1963-1998), and Director of Supplements.

The National Literature Award for Lifetime Work, granted by the Corripio Foundation and the Ministry of Culture, was awarded to Teacher María Ugarte in 2006 to recognize what Spanish critic Juan-Fernando Dorrego Tíktin called a “special symbiosis (…) of literature, historical research and journalism”. Her contributions, her imperishable humanist legacy and the finest life, a symbol of knowledge, of the last Spanish exiled migrant woman who was with us, before turning 92 years old, are immortalized. Her published bibliography includes among other works, Monumentos coloniales (1977), La Catedral de Santo Domingo, Primada de América (1992), Iglesias, capillas y ermitas coloniales (1995), Estampas coloniales (1998), and Prats Ventós, 1925-1999 (2002). She is coauthor of Murales dominicanos (2000) and Arte dominicano (1844-2000).

In 2002 the Executive Branch, at the request of the Secretariat of State for Women, awarded her the Order of Merit Duarte, Sánchez, and Mella, in the Grade of Grand Officer, in a solemn ceremony that took place at the Cariátides Hall of the National Palace. Ugarte died on March 4th, 2011, at the age of 97, surrounded by the respect, admiration, and love of the Dominican people, the nation that she made her homeland.

The 5th ÁGORA MALL MINI BOOK FAIR (FIL-AM) is celebrated during the month of March, at the start of spring. The Bureau of Female Authors will be dedicated to the honoree. This is done with the consent of prestigious journalist Carmenchu ??Brusiloff, daughter of the deceased writer. We hope to see you next Sunday, March 30th.