Manuel Egozcue y Cintrón (1855 in

Toa Alta Toa Alta () is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the northern coast of the island, north of Naranjito; south of Dorado and Toa Baja; east of Vega Alta and Corozal; and west of Bayamón. Toa Alta is spread over eight barrios an ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

– 1906) was a businessman and a prominent politician in Spain and Puerto Rico during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. After completing university, he emigrated to

, then an overseas

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

of Spain, and quickly became prominent in its business circles. He became an active member of the

Partido Incondicional Español The Unconditional Spanish Party () was a loyalist conservative political party in Puerto Rico during Spanish colonial times. It was founded in November 1870. The party favored traditionalist assimilation into the political party system of Spain. ...

(the

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

Spanish Unconditional Party) and held public offices under the Spanish government, including the vice-presidency of the ''Diputación Provincial'' (Provincial Legislature). In 1896 the government honored him with the Orden del Mérito Naval for services rendered to Spain's navy. After the American occupation, Egozcue Cintrón joined the newly formed

Republican Party of Puerto Rico The Republican Party of Puerto Rico ( es, Partido Republicano de Puerto Rico) is the local affiliate of the national United States Republican Party in Puerto Rico. The affiliation started in 1903. The party does not participate in the November ...

, whose main goal was obtaining statehood status for the island. He served on its board of directors, where he worked closely with party founder

José Celso Barbosa José Celso Barbosa Alcala (July 27, 1857 – September 21, 1921) was a Puerto Rican physician, sociologist and political leader. Known as the father of the statehood movement in Puerto Rico, Barbosa was the first Puerto Rican, and one of the ...

. During the municipal elections of 1900—the first since the beginning of the American occupation—the Republican Party achieved an overwhelming victory, and Egozcue Cintrón became

Alcalde Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

, a position he held until he was elected a member of the First House of Delegates for the 1901–1902 term. Following the House's seasonal adjournment, he was reappointed to fill Alcalde's unexpired term. In 1904 he was again elected mayor, but his term was truncated when territorial governor William Henry Hunt ordered his removal from office after a corruption scandal that tainted much of city government. Although Egozcue Cintrón was ultimately acquitted of all charges, the ordeal affected him deeply, requiring his internment in a psychiatric hospital. He died shortly thereafter, in 1906. During Egozcue Cintrón's terms as mayor, an urban police corps was created to patrol the city, and $600,000 of

municipal bond A municipal bond, commonly known as a muni, is a Bond (finance), bond issued by state or local governments, or entities they create such as authorities and special districts. In the United States, interest income received by holders of municipal ...

s were issued for full payment of the city's debt and the completion of an aqueduct. ''The accompanying portrait of mayor Egozcue Cintrón is from a contemporaneous ink drawing by Puerto Rican political

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfred Grévin (1827–1892) * Alf ...

Mario Brau de Zuzuárregui.''

References

* Coll y Toste, Cayetano (1978) ''Puertorriqueňos Ilustres'', Editorial Cultural, Inc. (Spanish).

External links

Register of Porto Rico

''La Ilustración Española y Americana''

Guía oficial de España
{{DEFAULTSORT:Egozcue Cintron, Manuel 1855 births 1906 deaths People from Bilbao People from Toa Alta, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican people of Basque descent Unconditional Spanish Party politicians Mayors of San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican businesspeople Republican Party (Puerto Rico) politicians 19th-century American businesspeople