Erwin Walter Palm

Particularly receptive to the malicious developments taking place in Nazi Germany, the couple fled to Italy in 1932 to escape the growing anti-Semitism.

In 1950, he masterminded and curated a pivotal exhibit of Colonial Art that for the first time gathered and interpreted the limited artifacts still remaining from the period when Santo Domingo was the capital of the New World.

He properly catalogued the treasures of America's oldest cathedral (Catedral de Santa María la Menor, est 1536), as well as many artifacts from private collections.

It helped spark a hitherto unseen interest in colonial architecture that among other things, led to the revalorization and subsequent restoration of the old city district.

Their work was instrumental in securing the Government's bid before UNESCO which granted World Heritage Site status to the entire Old City of Santo Domingo in 1990.

He is celebrated in the Dominican Republic for his achievements in advancing scholarly research of the history and architecture of the early colonial period.

In Santo Domingo, the Fundación Palm—whose mission is to study and promote Dominican patrimony, especially architecture, urbanism, and literature—was established in his honor.