Adolfo Alejandro Nouel y Bobadilla (12 December 1862,

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

– 26 June 1937) was an

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educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and

interim president An acting president is a person who temporarily fills the role of a country's president when the incumbent president is unavailable (such as by illness or visiting abroad) or when the post is vacant (such as for death, resignation or removal ...

of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

Early life and education

Nouel was born to Carlos Rafael Nouel y Pierret, a Dominican diplomat, law teacher, journalist, and businessman of French descent, and Clemencia Antonia Bobadilla y Desmier D'Olbreuse (daughter of President Tomás Bobadilla y Briones, of full Spanish descent and the first ruler of the Dominican Republic, with his wife of French noble origin María Virginia Desmier D'Olbreuse y Allard, from the Desmier of Olbreuse dynasty) in

. Nouel was 3/4 French and 1/4 Spanish. His great-grandfather, Barthelemy Pierret Grinet, was a French gunnery sergeant who arrived to the island on 29 January 1802 in the fleet commanded by General Leclerc, Napoleon's brother-in-law. He began his studies in El Colegio El Estudio, of Santo Domingo, and afterward he studied at the Seminary of the Dominican Capital. Before going to study abroad, he was a student of Archbishop

Fernando Arturo de Meriño ''Father'' Fernando Arturo de Meriño y Ramírez (January 9, 1833 – August 20, 1906) was a Dominican priest and politician. He served as President of the Dominican Republic from September 1, 1880, until September 1, 1882. He served as the Pr ...

. He went to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

where he studied in the Colegio Latin Pio for ten years. He excelled in this school as one of the brightest students. In 1883 he received a doctorate in philosophy and bachelor's degree in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

from the Gregorian University. In 1885, accompanied by

Monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

Meriño, he returned to Santo Domingo and received the sacred order of priesthood in the Cathedral of Santo Domingo.

Priesthood

In 1888 he became the

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. In 1890, he became parish priest of the

Cathedral of Santo Domingo The Cathedral of Santa María la Menor in the Colonial City of Santo Domingo is dedicated to St. Mary of the Incarnation. It is the oldest existing cathedral in the Americas, begun in 1504 and was completed in 1550, and the second constructed, af ...

and

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of the Conciliar Seminary of Santo Tomas de Aquino. In this seminary he taught

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Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

. Later he became parish priest of Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz in el Seibo, San Juan de la Maguana and finally of the parish in La Vega. In this city he initiated the building of a church the Town designated as "adopted son". In 1903, he was elected deputy of the Province of La Vega. He traveled to

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, in this year and was designated by Cardinal Merry de Val as Archbishop of Metymma and successor of Monsignor Merino whom he succeeded in the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo after his death on August 20, 1906.

Politics

He was inaugurated as provisional

president of the Dominican Republic The president of the Dominican Republic () is both the head of state and head of government of the Dominican Republic. The presidential system was established in 1844, following the proclamation of the republic during the Dominican War of In ...

through a decree of the National Congress on November 30, 1912. His rise to office was due to the ongoing Civil War and the imperative that the presidential office be occupied by a neutral person, who inspired trust and respect, and could offer a stable peace. He resigned before the National Assembly, on April 13, 1913, after considering that he had achieved his purpose to bring peace to the country. The invasion of the Dominican Republic by American troops, surprised him while he was in

where he had traveled for health reasons. He returned to Santo Domingo in 1920 and wrote a letter to the American

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

protesting the American intervention.

Writing

His literary work has not been published. Typed copies are kept by the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo. He was in charge of editing the work of his father ''Historia Eclesiastica de la Arquidiocesis de Santo Domingo''. He was in the middle of revising several documents from ''el Archivo de Indias'' when he died in 1937.

Tributes

Monseñor Nouel Province Monseñor Nouel () is a Provinces of the Dominican Republic, province in the Cibao, central region of the Dominican Republic. It was split from La Vega Province, La Vega province in 1982. Name The province is named after Monseñor Dr. Adolfo Alej ...

was named for Adolfo Nouel.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nouel, Adolfo Alejandro 1862 births 1937 deaths Roman Catholic archbishops of Santo Domingo 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Dominican Republic Presidents of the Dominican Republic Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic Monseñor Nouel Province Dominican Republic people of Breton descent Dominican Republic people of French descent Dominican Republic people of Spanish descent Dominican Republic people of Canarian descent White Dominicans