Orders, Decorations and Medals

Dominican Republic, Order of Juan Pablo Duarte, badge, 85 x 55mm., silver, silver-gilt and enamel, fitted with a silver brooch bar suspension bearing a miniature silver-gilt and enamel badge of the Order, the centre set with a pearl, the brooch bar reverse inscribed, ‘Rafael Leonidas Trujillo 1950’, nearly extremely fine £500-700

Information derived from the Trujillo family indicates that originally the miniature badge was set with a diamond.

Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina was born in San Christobal on 24 October 1891, the third of eleven children of Jose Trujillo, a minor retailer, and Altagracia Julia Molina Chevalier. After several short-lived jobs, the young Trujillo entered the Dominican army during the time of the U.S. occupation of the country, 1916-24. Rising quickly through the ranks, by the time the Americans vacated the country, he was in command of the army. When a rebellion broke out in 1930 against President Horacio Vasquez, Trujillo was ordered to suppress it; however, no action against the rebels was taken, the capital, Santo Domingo was taken without a fight and the rebel leader, Rafael Estrella was installed as Acting President in place of the ousted Vasquez. In the nominally ‘free’ elections of May 1930, Trujillo, as leader of the newly formed Dominican Party won the Presidency, by gaining a staggering 95% of the vote!

The country swiftly moved to a one-party state with all opposition brutally suppressed. In the absence of any viable opposition, Trujillo was ‘acclaimed’ President for a second term in 1934 but, following U.S. precedent, declined to stand for a third successive term, and instead installed Jacinto Peynado, 1938-40 and Manuel Troncoso de la Concha, 1940-42 as his nominees, whilst retaining all effective power himself as ‘Generalissimo’. Trujillo was persuaded to stand for election again in 1942 and as before won handsomely. He retained the Presidency until 1952, when his younger brother, Hector Trujillo was given the title; Rafael Trujillo retaining all effective power as before. In 1960 his brother was removed from nominal power, and the Presidency was bestowed upon Joaquin Balaguer, with Trujillo again in effective control. Rafael Trujillo’s life and the power of the Trujillo family in the country came to an end on 30 May 1961, when he was shot dead by an assassin in Santo Domingo. Originally buried with full honours in his home town of San Christobel, his body was later removed and reburied in Paris.