Leopoldo Navarro (1862-1908), artist from Santo Domingo
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Leopoldo Navarro (1862-1908), born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. An educator, editor, painter and sculptor. Son of a Spanish father and a Dominican mother. Orphaned at age seven, a young Navarro finds a home at the San Luis Gonzaga School where he comes under the tutelage of Presbyter Francisco Xavier Billini (1837-1896).
Under Billini, Navarro begins his journey in art, which he continues in Paris and then Madrid. He later returns to Santo Domingo where he enrolls in Luis Desangles workshop, Casa Taller, which Desangles opens in 1883.
During the final decade of the 19th century, Leopoldo assumes an activist role in the promotion of the arts and cultural development in the country. After the death of his mentor Father Billini, in 1896, he joins the faculty of San Luis Gonzaga.