Julio Vizcarrondo
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Julio Vizcarrondo Coronado (December 9, 1829 – 1889) was a Puerto Rican
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...
,
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
,
politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...
and religious leader. He played an instrumental role in the development and passage of the Moret Law which in 1873 abolished slavery in Puerto Rico. Vizcarrondo was also the founder of the
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
movement in the
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in the 19th century.


Early years

Vizcarrondo was born in
San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the ...
to Dr. Jose Bonifacio Vizcarrondo y Ortiz de Zarate and María Josefa Coronado y Martínez. His family were the owners of slaves who worked their
Hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchard ...
. Vizcarrondo received his primary education in the capital city of Puerto Rico and his secondary education in
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,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
and
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.Julio Vizcarrondo
/ref>


Journalist

Upon his return to Puerto Rico, Vizcarrondo began to write for a local newspaper, where he expressed his liberal ideas and his position against slavery. The Spanish government considered his remarks as treacherous, and the appointed governor of the island, Lieutenant General Juan de la Pezuela y Cevallos (1848–1851), ordered his exile to the
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.


Exile and return

In 1850, Vizcarrondo arrived in
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and joined the "International Conference of Paris against Slavery" as Secretary of the Permanent Committee of said organization. In New York he met and married Henriette Brewster y Cornell and converted to
Protestantism Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
, the faith of his wife. In 1854, Vizcarrondo returned to Puerto Rico and continued writing articles and expressing his ideas. He granted his slaves their freedom and became a defender of the rights of Black slaves in Puerto Rico. He often denounced, in the island's courts, the slave owners who mistreated their slaves, thereby making many enemies. Vizcarrondo also denounced what he felt was the mistreatment of the Puerto Ricans and Puerto Rico in general by the colonial Spanish government. In 1857, he established the newspaper ''El Mercurio'' (The Mercury) and later established the "La Casa de la Caridad de San Ildefonso", an educational institution which provided free education to children of little or no means. The director (principal) of the institution was his wife. In 1863, he was named secretary of the commission in charge of moving the remains of
Juan Ponce de León Juan Ponce de León (, , , ; 1474 – July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and ''conquistador'' known for leading the first official European expedition to Florida and for serving as the first governor of Puerto Rico. He was born in Santervà ...
from its resting place in the Church of San José to the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista. Vizcarrondo continued to make enemies because of the liberal ideas which he expressed in his newspaper. Vizcarrondo published various books on math, history and geography which were used in his school. In 1866, he also wrote a spelling book relying upon ancient methods of learning to read titled ''El Silabario Puertorriqueño'' (The Puerto Rican primary textbook) which was declared a textbook and used in the schools of the island. Vizcarrondo published the ''Elementos de Historia y Geografía de Puerto Rico'' (The Elements of History and Geography of Puerto Rico) which was made into a textbook.


In Madrid

In 1863, Vizcarrondo moved to Madrid where he joined other Puerto Ricans and
Cubans Cubans ( es, Cubanos) are people born in Cuba and people with Cuban citizenship. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic, religious and national backgrounds. Racial and ethnic groups Census The population of Cuba ...
who were also abolitionists. During his stay, Spain suffered the consequences of a
cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...
plague. Vizcarrondo and his friends founded the "Sociedad de Amigos de los Pobres" (The Society of the Friends of the Poor), an organization which helped to rescue, feed and assist those who were most affected by the cholera plague. He also offered his house as a temporary hospital. The government of Spain awarded him a medal in recognition of his heroic deeds during the cholera epidemic. He later co-founded the "Hospital del Niño Jesus". The origins of Protestantism in the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...
in the 19th century can be traced to Vizcarrondo. As president of the Central Committee of the Spanish Evangelical Union, he attempted and failed to establish a Protestant church in Madrid. Despite this setback, on January 24, 1869 he was able to convince the mayor of Madrid to grant the members of the Protestant faith permission to hold their religious services in public.


Political career

Vizcarrondo joined the Spanish Republican Party. He helped in the preparation of the Liberal Revolution as Secretary of the revolutionary committee of Madrid. When the government discovered his role, he was exiled to France. He returned to Spain shortly after the revolution triumphed. Once again he was given a position in the revolutionary committee of Madrid, and he helped reorganize the Sociedad Abolicionista (Abolitionist Society). In 1873, Vizcarrondo – together with Ramon Baldorioty de Castro, Luis Padial and the Minister of Overseas Affairs,
Segismundo Moret Segismundo Moret y Prendergast (2 June 1833 – 28 January 1913) was a Spanish politician and writer. He was the prime minister of Spain on three occasions and the president of the Congress of Deputies on two occasions. Biography Moret was bo ...
– presented a proposal for the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico and Cuba. On March 22, 1873, the Spanish Government approved the proposal which became known as the Moret Law."Historia de La Esclavitud Negra En Puerto Rico" (The history of Black Slavery in Puerto Rico); By Luis M. Díaz Soler; Page 270; Published 1981 Editorial UPR;


Later years and legacy

On May 1, 1880, Vizcarrondo and Rafael María de Labra became the founders of the Sociedad Nacional Democrática (National Democratic Society), a political party whose main goal was to obtain more autonomy for both Puerto Rico and Cuba. In 1886, he was elected and served as a representative from the district of Ponce to the
Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...
in Madrid, a post he held until his death in 1889. At the Spanish Parliament, Vizcarrondo recommended an autonomy modeled after the type that
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
had at that moment. In 1887, he participated in a massive campaign directed against the Spanish appointed governor of Puerto Rico, Romualdo Palacio González, which resulted in the governor's replacement. Julio Vizcarrondo Coronado died in 1889, in Madrid. The government of Puerto Rico honored Vizcarrondo's memory by naming schools in the towns of Carolina and
Cayey Cayey (), officially Cayey de Muesas, is a mountain town and municipality in central Puerto Rico located on the Sierra de Cayey within the Central Mountain range, north of Salinas and Guayama; south of Cidra and Caguas; east of Aibonito and Sal ...
after him.Vizcarrondo school in Cayey
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Further reading

*''Sugar, Slavery, & Freedom in Nineteenth-century Puerto Rico'' By Luis A. Figueroa; Published 2005 UNC Press; SBN:080785610X


Notes


See also

* List of Puerto Ricans


References


External links


Biografías de abolicionistas
(The Biographies of the Abolitionists) * L

(The Encyclopedia of Protestantism in Spain) * Conferenci
''El protestantismo en España y su compromiso con la sociedad''
(Protestantism in Spain and its role in Society) by Gabino Fernández Campos * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vizcarrondo, Julio Converts to Protestantism Puerto Rican abolitionists Puerto Rican evangelicals Puerto Rican journalists Puerto Rican politicians Puerto Rican religious leaders Christian abolitionists Members of the Congress of Deputies (Spain) People from San Juan, Puerto Rico 1829 births 1889 deaths 19th-century journalists Male journalists 19th-century male writers