Abstract

The objective of this dissertation, written in Spanish, is to study the life and works of the Dominican priest and essayist Antonio Sanchez Valverde . The first chapter is an introduction to the history of his birthplace, Hispaniola . It begins with the discovery of the New World and concludes with the first indications of a sense of identity within the colonizers. The second chapter deals with the biography of Sanchez Valverde, first by tracing his Spanish lineage, then by outlining his intellectual formation in Europe and America. In the same chapter we attempt to give a definition of the essay and place his works within this genre. The third chapter examines his most famous, but rarely studied work: Idea del valor de la Isla Espanola . In this chapter we seek to establish the author's participation in the polemic of his day, namely, the controversy over the superiority of the Old World versus the New World. Sanchez Valverde's treatise, Idea del valor de la Isla Espanola argued that his homeland was as rich and promising as any country of the Old World. The fourth chapter analyzes the controversy surrounding the origin of syphilis, as can be found in his book La America vindicada de la calumnia de haber sido madre del mal venereo . This chapter examines Sanchez Valverde's sources, and although no final resolution of this dispute is established, ample evidence and discussion is offered on both sides. Finally, the author of this dissertation offers the conclusions of his research, followed by a bibliography of works that have been consulted