On this day, 25 February in 1816, Matias Ramon Mella was born. He was a Dominican military man, politician and activist and became one of the Founding Fathers along with Juan Pablo Duarte and Francisco del Rosario Sanchez. He died on 4 June 1864.
Mella contributed significantly during the war of National Independence against the Haitian occupation and was involved in the early moves to restore the country to Spanish annexation before his death. He is best known for having shot his blunderbuss on the night of 27 February 1844 at the Puerta de la Misericordia, one of the gates leading into the Colonial City in Santo Domingo.
In 1836 he married Josefa Brea who came from a prominent Dominican family and they had four children, Ramon Maria, Dominga America Maria, Antonio Nicanor and Ildefonso.
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