Manuel A. Pérez (December 2, 1890 - May 7, 1951) was a Puerto Rican

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

and public service that made several contributions to various fields of the Public Administration during his career.

Biography

Manuel A. Pérez was born in the town of Comerío,

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 ...

to Celestino Pérez and Josefa Pérez. He studied at his hometown and at the Industrial School at

Puerta de Tierra Puerta de Tierra is a ''subbarrio'' (subdistrict) occupying the eastern portion of the Islet of San Juan and the ''barrio'' of San Juan Antiguo in the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The name Puerta de Tierra (Spanish for ''land gate'') ...

. From 1907 to 1909, he started working as an office employee at the Puerto Rico Leaf Tobacco Company, at

Caguas Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was founde ...

. He married Carlota Santiago Carmona with whom he had three children: Carlos Manuel, Irma, and Enrique. In 1910, when he was 20 years old, he obtained his elementary school teacher certificate, and worked as such until 1912. He then went to continue studies in

Public Health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

at the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

. From 1912 to 1924, he also dedicated time to

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

, especially

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

. One of his contributions was the organization and foundation of an Association for Agriculture Workers. Thanks to a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...

he received in 1929 from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

, Pérez went to study to the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

. In 1934, he was forced to interrupt his career in public service due to the death of his son. He returned to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

where he lived for a year, before returning to work at Puerto Rico. On May 7, 1951, Pérez died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

at the Presbyterian Hospital 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 juri ...

. He was 61 years old.

Political career

Manuel Pérez served three times as an

interim An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities. Interim may also refer to: Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept) *Provis ...

governor of

; once during the administration of Rexford Guy Tugwell, and twice during the administration of

Jesús T. Piñero Jesús T. Piñero Jiménez (April 16, 1897 – November 19, 1952) was the first and only native Puerto Rican to be appointed governor of Puerto Rico by the Government of the United States. Early years Jesús Toribio Piñero Jiménez was born i ...

. During one of his interim tenures, he approved the law that created the music schools of

Family

His oldest son, Carlos Manuel, died when he was studying at college. His daughter, Irma, married Dr. Dwight Santiago Stevenson. His youngest son, Enrique, received a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

Medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

from the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

Legacy

There is a housing project in

( Residencial Manuel A. Perez) that bears his name.

External links

Biography of Manuel A. Pérez
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Manuel 1890 births 1951 deaths People from Comerío, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican educators University of Maryland, College Park alumni 20th-century Puerto Rican educators 20th-century American educators