Emilio Prud'Homme was a Dominican

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

 lawyer. Prud'Homme was the author and composer of the Dominican National Anthem. He is also attributed with helping establish a national identity, for what was at the time a nascent republic

Republic

A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...

.

Biography

Emilio Prud'Homme was born in Puerto Plata

San Felipe de Puerto Plata

San Felipe de Puerto Plata, often referred to as simply Puerto Plata, is the capital of the Dominican province Puerto Plata.The city is famous for resorts such as Playa Dorada and Costa Dorada, located east of San Felipe de Puerto Plata. There are a total of 100,000 hotel beds in the city.The only...

, on August 20, 1856. Prud'Homme excelled in teaching, an activity to which he devoted most of his life. He was a great collaborator and disciple of Eugenio María de Hostos

Eugenio María de Hostos

Eugenio María de Hostos known as "El Ciudadano de América" , was a Puerto Rican educator, philosopher, intellectual, lawyer, sociologist and independence advocate....

 and taught at "Perserevancia of Azua" and also in the "Liceo Dominicano" in 1892 and was director of the "Normal School", a teaching college founded by Hostos in 1880.

Politics

Prud'Homme was a legislator

Legislator

A legislator is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are usually politicians and are often elected by the people...

 in the Congress of the Dominican Republic

Congress of the Dominican Republic

The Congress of the Dominican Republic is the bicameral legislature of the government of the Dominican Republic, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Both senators and deputies are chosen through direct election...

. He also served as the Secretary of Justice and Social Instruction in the administration of Francisco Henríquez y Carvajal

Francisco Henríquez y Carvajal

Francisco Hilario Henríquez y Carvajal was a doctor, lawyer, writer, educator and politician from the Dominican Republic. He served as President in 1916. He married Salomé Ureña. He had 4 children, Pedro, Francisco, Max, and Camila....

. Prud'Humme was publicly critical of the United States occupation and as a result was forced to resign his teaching post. As a result, he pursued a career as a lawyer.

Writing career

Most of his literary works were directed to the exaltation of patriotic values​​, respect and love for the defense of sovereignty and national independence.

His magnum opus

Magnum opus

Magnum opus , from the Latin meaning "great work", refers to the largest, and perhaps the best, greatest, most popular, or most renowned achievement of a writer, artist, or composer.-Related terms:Sometimes the term magnum opus is used to refer to simply "a great work" rather than "the...

 being the Dominican National Anthem, which was written in 1883, with music by José Reyes. He later modified his work in 1897, when it began to be used at official state functions. Yet, it was not officially the National Anthem until 1934, when then dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo

Rafael Leónidas Trujillo

Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina , nicknamed El Jefe , ruled the Dominican Republic from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. He officially served as president from 1930 to 1938 and again from 1942 to 1952, otherwise ruling as an unelected military strongman...

consecrated it as a national symbol and made mandatory its use at state and public functions.