Luis Leoncio Yordán Dávila (12 September 1869 – 29 December 1932) was an attorney and Mayor of

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

, from 1917 to 1918.

Origin

Some sources state Yordan Davila was born in

Guayanilla Guayanilla (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located on the southern coast of the island, bordering the Caribbean Sea, south of Adjuntas, east of Yauco; and west of Peñuelas and about west of Ponce. Guayanilla is spread over 16 ...

while others state he was born in Ponce. Either way he appears to have been born on 12 September 1869, the son of Ramon Yordan Gonzalez and Cruz Davila Torres.

Family life

Yordán Dávila married Angela Pasarell Pasarell. Their children were Luis Angel Yordan Pasarell, Rafael A. Yordan Pasarell, Oriol Yordan Pasarell, Belise Yordan Pasarell, and Jorge A. Yordan Pasarell.

Career

Yordán Dávila was a member of the

House of Representatives of Puerto Rico The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico ( es, Cámara de Representantes de Puerto Rico) is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the bicameral state legislature (United States), territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. ...

. He was also president of the local chapter of the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He also presided the committee for the erection of the Luis Munoz Rivera statue on Plaza Las Delicias in Ponce. In 1905 he was the fiscal commanding officer at the Ponce Firefighters Corps. In 1909 he co-founded the journal ''La Conciencia Libre'' (The Free Conscience) in Ponce. From 1910 to 1930 he was a lawyer and public notary. It was during this time that, in 1916, he became mayor of Ponce.

Mayoral work

Yordán Dávila is best known for being one of the main proposers of the bronze statue commemorating prominent poet, journalist, and politician Luis Muñoz Rivera that was eventually built and later (1923) unveiled in the Ponce

town square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...

that now bears the name

Plaza Muñoz Rivera Plaza Muñoz Rivera, formally Plaza Luis Muñoz Rivera, is the smaller of the two plazas at Plaza Las Delicias in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is located on the north side of Plaza Las Delicias, north of the larger southern Plaza Degetau ...

Death

Luis Yordan Davila died on 29 December 1932.

Luis Fortuño Janeiro Luis Fortuño Janeiro (1902 – 1966) was a politician, historian, journalist, and businessman from Ponce, Puerto Rico. He was senator from Ponce from 1937 to 1941. Historian and journalist Fortuño is best remembered for his ''Album Históri ...

said of him, "Ponce lost one of the factors that most enriched its living." He was buried at Cementerio Civil de Ponce.https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/133230962/luis-yord%C3%A1n_d%C3%A1vila

References

* Fay Fowlie de Flores. ''Ponce, Perla del Sur: Una Bibliografía Anotada.'' Second Edition. 1997. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Universidad de Puerto Rico en Ponce. p. 216. Item 1109. * Cayetano Coll y Toste. ''Boletín Histórico de Puerto Rico.'' San Juan, Puerto Rico: Cantera Fernandez. 1914–1927. (Colegio Universitario Tecnológico de Ponce, CUTPO). * Fay Fowlie de Flores. ''Ponce, Perla del Sur: Una Bibliografía Anotada.'' Second Edition. 1997. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Universidad de Puerto Rico en Ponce. p. 336. Item 1675. * Ponce. Gobierno Municipal. ''Informe actividades administrativas y económicas del Municipio de Ponce.'' (Also titled ''Informe del Alcalde de la Ciudad de Ponce'') Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta El Día. 1917. (Archivo Histórico Municipal de Ponce) {{DEFAULTSORT:Yordan Davila, Luis 1869 births 1932 deaths American Red Cross personnel Burials at Cementerio Civil de Ponce People from Guayanilla, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican Roman Catholics Mayors of Ponce, Puerto Rico People from Spanish Puerto Rico