Ramón Emeterio Betances y Alacán (April 8, 1827 – September 16, 1898) was a Puerto Rican independence advocate and medical doctor. He was the primary instigator of the

Grito de Lares ''El Grito de Lares'' (''The Cry of Lares''), also referred to as the Lares uprising, the Lares revolt, the Lares rebellion, or the Lares revolution, was the first major revolt against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico. The revolt was planned by Ra ...

revolution and is considered to be the father of the

Puerto Rican independence movement Throughout the history of Puerto Rico, its inhabitants have initiated several movements to obtain independence for the island, first from the Spanish Empire from 1493 to 1898 and since then from the United States. A spectrum of pro-autonomy, ...

. Since the ''Grito'' galvanized a burgeoning nationalist movement among Puerto Ricans, Betances is also considered ''"El Padre de la Patria"'' (Father of the uerto RicanNation). Because of his charitable deeds for people in need, he also became known as ''"El Padre de los Pobres"'' ("The Father of the Poor"). Betances was also a medical doctor and

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

in Puerto Rico, and one of its first

social hygienist The social hygiene movement was an attempt by Progressive era reformers to control venereal disease, regulate prostitution and vice, and disseminate sexual education through the use of scientific research methods and modern media techniques. Soci ...

s. He had established a successful surgery and

ophthalmology Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

practice. Betances was also an abolitionist,

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

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 ...

administrator, poet, and novelist. He served as representative and contact for Cuba and the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

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. S ...

, France. An adherent of

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, his political and social activism was deeply influenced by the group's philosophical beliefs.

Early years

Ancestry

Betances was born in

Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico Cabo Rojo (, ) is a city and municipality situated on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico and forms part of the San Germán–Cabo Rojo metropolitan area as well as the larger Mayagüez–San Germán–Cabo Rojo Combined Statistical Area. Hist ...

, in the building that now houses the ''"Logia Cuna de Betances"'' (''"Betances' Cradle Masonic Lodge"''). Betances' parents were Felipe Betanzos Ponce, a merchant born in Hispaniola (in the part that would later become the

; the surname

Betanzos Betanzos () is a municipality in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain in the province of A Coruña. It belongs to the comarca of Betanzos. In Roman times Betanzos was called Flauvium Brigantium or ''Brigantium''. During the ...

transformed into Betances while the family resided there), and María del Carmen Alacán de Montalvo, a native of Cabo Rojo and of French ancestry. They were married in 1812. Betances claimed in his lifetime that a relative of his, Pedro Betances, had revolted against the Spanish government of Hispaniola in 1808 and was tortured, executed, and his body burned and shown to the populace to dissuade them from further attempts.Dávila del Valle. Oscar G.
Presencia del ideario masónico en el proyecto revolucionario antillano de Ramón Emeterio Betances
/ref> Meanwhile, Alacán's father, a sailor, led a party of volunteers that tried to apprehend the pirate Roberto Cofresí y Ramírez de Arellano in 1824 and did arrest some of Cofresí's crew, for which he was honored by the Spanish government. Betances was the fourth of six children; the oldest of which would die shortly after birth; Betances was the only male among the surviving siblings. The family was described as being of

mixed race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

in records of the day. His mother died in 1837, when he was nine years old, and his father remarried in 1839; the five children he had with María del Carmen Torres Pagán included Ramón's half-brother Felipe Adolfo, who was not involved in politics (according to Ramón) but was nevertheless arrested following the Grito de Lares years later. His father eventually bought the Hacienda Carmen in what would later become the nearby town of

Hormigueros Hormigueros (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the western region of the island, northeast of Cabo Rojo; northwest of San Germán; and south of Mayagüez. Hormigueros is spread over 5 barrios and Hormigueros Pueblo (th ...

, and became a wealthy landowner. He owned of land, a small sugar mill, and some slaves, who shared their duties with free workers. There is speculation that he later freed his slaves, persuaded by his son Ramón.

First years in France

Primary education

The young Betances received his primary education from private tutors contracted by his father, a Freemason who owned the largest private library in town. His parents' attitude towards religion and civil authority shaped his personal beliefs in both subjects. His father would eventually send him to France, to study at the then-named ''"Collège Royal"'' (later named the

Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat The Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat, also referred to simply as Pierre-de-Fermat, is a public Lycée, located in the ''Parvis des Jacobins'' in Toulouse, in the immediate vicinity of the Place du Capitole; It occupies a large space in the city center i ...

) in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

when he was ten years old. A Franco-Puerto Rican family, Jacques Maurice Prévost and María Cavalliery Bey (who also was a native of Cabo Rojo) were appointed as his tutors. Prévost opened a drug store in

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Mayagüez (, ) is a city and the eighth-largest municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez, and is also known as ''La Sultana del Oeste'' (The Sultaness of the West), ''Ciudad de las Aguas Pura ...

, but was forced to return to France (particularly to his native town, Grisolles) for not having finished his pharmacy studies. There is also speculation that Prévost was a Freemason, as was Betances' father. Betances accompanied the couple in Prévost's return to his country, and would be under their indirect tutelage while boarding at the school. He showed interest in natural and exact sciences early on, and also became a good fencer.

Legal "whitening" of family

While Ramón was in France, his father sought to move the family's registration from the "

" to the "white" (

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

) classification of families in Cabo Rojo. The process, when successful, entitled the requester to further legal and property rights for him and his family, and was necessary to allow his daughter, Ana María, to marry José Tió, who was a Caucasian. In the case of Betances' father, the process lasted two years, and was formalized in 1840, but not before having to have the family's

lineage Lineage may refer to: Science * Lineage (anthropology), a group that can demonstrate its common descent from an apical ancestor or a direct line of descent from an ancestor * Lineage (evolution), a temporal sequence of individuals, populati ...

and religious affiliations exposed to the general public, something that embarrassed them all. Betances was considerably annoyed by the entire ordeal, since he was the first to acknowledge that he and his entire family were not ''"blancuzcos"'' ("whitish", a legal term) but ''"prietuzcos"'' ("blackish", as Betances mocked it in his letters) instead. To him the procedure reeked of hypocrisy.

Medicine studies

In 1846, Betances obtained his ''

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

'' (

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

diploma). After an extended vacation in Puerto Rico, he went on to study

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 pract ...

at the Faculty of Medicine of Paris from 1848 until 1855, with a short interlude at the Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier for specific courses in the summer of 1852. At the time of his arrival in Paris, Betances witnessed the aftermath of the 1848 Revolution and its backlash, the

June Days Uprising The June Days uprising (french: les journées de Juin) was an uprising staged by French civilians from 22 to 26 June 1848. It was in response to plans to close the National Workshops, created by the Second Republic in order to provide work an ...

, earlier that year. His future political views were directly shaped by what he saw and experienced at the time. He himself ''"an old soldier of the French Republic"''. Inspired by the proclamation of the 2 République, he rejected Puerto Rican aspirations for

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

(sought from Spain by Puerto Rican politicians since 1810) in favor of

Puerto Rican independence Throughout the history of Puerto Rico, its inhabitants have initiated several movements to obtain independence for the island, first from the Spanish Empire from 1493 to 1898 and since then from the United States. A spectrum of pro- autonomy, ...

.Ojeda Reyes, Félix (as told to Collado Schwarz, Ángel)
Ramón Emeterio Betances: Padre de la Patria, Médico de los Pobres, Poeta, Diplomático de Puerto Rico y Cuba en Francia.
/ref> In 1856, he graduated with the titles of Doctor in Medicine and

Surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

. He was the second Puerto Rican to graduate from the University (after Pedro Gerónimo Goyco, a later political leader native of Mayagüez who would eventually interact with Betances when both returned to Puerto Rico). Among Betances' teachers were: Charles-Adolphe Wurtz,

Jean Cruveilhier Jean Cruveilhier (; 9 February 1791 – 7 March 1874) was a French anatomist and pathologist. Academic career Cruveilhier was born in Limoges, France. As a student in Limoges, he planned to enter the priesthood. He later developed an inte ...

Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud (16 September 1796 – 29 October 1881) was a French physician born in Bragette, now part of Garat, Charente. Bouillaud was an early advocate of the localization of cerebral functions (especially of speech). He received ...

Armand Trousseau Armand Trousseau (14 October 1801 – 23 June 1867) was a French internist. His contributions to medicine include Trousseau sign of malignancy, Trousseau sign of latent tetany, Trousseau–Lallemand bodies (an archaic synonym for Bence Jones ...

, Alfred-Armand-Louis-Marie Velpeau and Auguste Nélaton.

Father's death and family's economic problems

While Betances was studying medicine in France, his father died (in August 1854) and his sister Ana María would be forced to take over the Hacienda Carmen's management. By 1857 the heirs were forced to give the operation's output to a holding company headed by Guillermo Schröeder.

First return to Puerto Rico

Cholera epidemic of 1856

Betances returned to Puerto Rico in April 1856. At the time, 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 and ...

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious ...

was spreading across the island. The epidemic made its way to Puerto Rico's western coast in July 1856, and hit the city of Mayagüez particularly hard. At the time, Betances was one of five doctors that would have to take care of 24,000 residents. Both he and Dr. José Francisco Basora (who became lifelong friends and colleagues from that point on) would alert the city government and press the city managers into taking preventive action. An emergency subscription fund was established by some of the city's wealthiest citizens. Betances and Basora had the city's unsanitary slave barracks torched and a temporary camp set up for its dwellers. A large field at a corner of the city was set aside for a supplementary cemetery, and Betances set and managed a temporary hospital next to it (which was later housed in a permanent structure and became the ''Hospital San Antonio'', the Mayagüez municipal hospital, which still serves the city). However, the epidemic struck the city soon after; Betances' stepmother and one of his brothers-in-law would die from it. By October 1856 Betances would have to take care of the entire operation on his own temporarily. At the time, he had his first confrontation with Spanish authorities, since Betances gave last priority of medical treatment to those Spanish-born military rank and officers who were affected by the disease (they demanded preferential and immediate treatment, and he openly despised them for it). For his hard work to save many Puerto Ricans from the ravages of the

of 1856, Betances was commended by the city's government. However, when the central government established a Chief Surgeon post for the city, Betances (who was the acting chief surgeon) was passed over, in favor of a Spanish newcomer. Basora and Betances were eventually honored with streets named after each in the city of Mayagüez. The main thoroughfare that crosses the city from north to south is named after Betances; a street that links the center of the city with the

University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez The University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (UPRM) or Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez (RUM) in Spanish (also referred to as Colegio and CAAM in allusion to its former name), is a public land-grant university in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. UPRM ...

is named after Dr. Basora.

Exile from and return to Puerto Rico

Abolitionist

Betances believed in the abolition of

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, inspired not only on written works by

Victor Schœlcher Victor Schœlcher (; 22 July 1804 – 25 December 1893) was a French abolitionist, writer, politician and journalist, best known for his leading role in the abolition of slavery in France in 1848, during the Second Republic. Early life Schœlche ...

, John Brown, Lamartine and Tapia, but also on personal experience, based on what he saw at his father's farm and in daily Puerto Rican life. Based on his beliefs, he founded a civic organization in 1856, one of many others that were later called the ''Secret Abolitionist Societies'' by historians. Little is known about them due to their clandestine nature, but Betances and

Salvador Brau Salvador Brau y Asencio (January 11, 1842 – November 5, 1912) was a Puerto Rican journalist, poet, dramatist, novelist, historian, and sociologist. He was designated the official historian of Puerto Rico by the first American-appointed governor ...

(a close friend who later became the official

Historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

of Puerto Rico) describe them in their writings. Some of these societies sought the freedom and free passage of

maroons Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into separate creole cultures such as the Garifuna and the Mascogos. ...

from Puerto Rico to countries where slavery had been abolished already; other societies sought to liberate as many slaves as possible by buying out their freedom. The objective of the particular society Betances founded was to free children who were slaves, taking advantage of their need to receive the sacrament of

Baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

at the town church, ''Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria'', which is now the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Mayagüez. Since buying the freedom of slave children cost 50 ''pesos'' if the child had been baptized, and 25 ''pesos'' if the child had not, Betances, Basora,

Segundo Ruiz Belvis Segundo Ruiz Belvis (13 May 1829 – 3 November 1867) was a Puerto Rican abolitionist who also fought for Puerto Rico's right to independence. Early years Ruiz Belvis was born in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico (then a barrio of the municipality ...

and other members of the society waited next to the baptismal font on Sundays, expecting a master to take a slave family to baptize their child. Before the child was baptized, Betances or his partners gave money to the parents, which they in turn used to buy the child's freedom from his master. The child, once freed, was baptized minutes after. This action was later described as having the child receive the ''"aguas de libertad"'' (waters of liberty). Similar events occurred in the city of Ponce. The baptismal font where these baptisms were performed still exists, and is owned by a local family of merchants, the Del Moral family, who keep it at their Mayagüez house. As of 2007 the baptismal font has been donated to the Mayagüez Cathedral, Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, by Doña Elda Del Moral. It had been in conservation from 1963 until donated.

''La vièrge de Boriquén'' (The ''Boriquén'' Virgin)

The Spanish governor of Puerto Rico, Fernando Cotoner, threatened Betances with exile in 1858 because of his abolitionist tactics. Betances took a

leave of absence The labour law concept of leave, specifically paid leave or, in some countries' long-form, a leave of absence, is an authorised prolonged absence from work, for any reason authorised by the workplace. When people "take leave" in this way, they are ...

from his duties as director of the local hospital and again left Puerto Rico for France, followed by Basora. Soon, his half-sister Clara and her husband, Justine Hénri, would also leave for Paris with his niece, María del Carmen Hénri. María del Carmen, nicknamed ''Lita'', was born in 1838. She had met Betances when she was 10, and Betances became instantly fond of her. Once he returned to Puerto Rico from his medical studies he requested the necessary ecclesiastical permissions to marry her (due to the degree of

consanguinity Consanguinity ("blood relation", from Latin '' consanguinitas'') is the characteristic of having a kinship with another person (being descended from a common ancestor). Many jurisdictions have laws prohibiting people who are related by blood fr ...

between them), which were granted in Rome (then part of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

) after an extended delay. Their marriage was supposed to occur on May 5, 1859, in Paris, but Lita fell sick with

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

and died at the

Mennecy Mennecy () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. Geography Mennecy is 33 kilometers south east of Paris-Notre-Dame, point zero from roads of France, 8 kilometers south of Évry, 6 kilometers south west of ...

house of Dr. Pierre Lamire, a friend from Betances' medical school days, on April 22, 1859 (the

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...

of that year). Betances was psychologically devastated by Lita's death. Accompanied by his sister, brother-in-law, local friends and a few Puerto Rican friends residing in Paris at the time (which included Basora,

Francisco Oller Francisco Oller (June 17, 1833 – May 17, 1917) was a Puerto Rican painter. Oller is the only Latin American painter to have played a role in the development of Impressionism. One of the most distinguished transatlantic painters of his da ...

and another Cabo Rojo native, future political leader Salvador Carbonell), Betances had Lita buried on April 25. Her body was later reburied in Mayagüez, on November 13 of that year.

, a historian and close friend, later wrote that once Betances returned to Puerto Rico with Lita's body, he suspended all personal activities besides his medical work, spent a considerable amount of time caring for her tomb at the Mayagüez cemetery, and assumed the physical aspect that most people identify Betances with: dark suit, long unkempt beard, and "

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

" hat. Betances immersed himself in work, but later found time to write a short story in French, ''La Vièrge de Boriquén'' (The Boriquén Virgin), inspired in his love for Lita and her later death, and somewhat influenced by

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

's writing style.

Cayetano Coll y Toste Dr. Cayetano Coll y Toste (November 30, 1850 – November 19, 1930), was a Puerto Rican historian and writer. He was the patriarch of a prominent family of Puerto Rican educators, politicians and writers. Early years Coll y Toste was born in th ...

later described the story of Lita and Betances in the story La Novia de Betances,

Return to Mayagüez and second exile

Doctor and surgeon

After returning to Puerto Rico in 1859, Betances established a very successful surgery and

practice in Mayagüez. Even fierce political enemies such as Spanish pro-monarchy journalist José Pérez Morís regarded Betances as the best surgeon in Puerto Rico at the time. His good reputation in Puerto Rico would survive his stay in the island nation for many years. In 1895, while Betances was living in Paris, the manufacturers of the ''Emulsión de Scott'' (a

codfish Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

liver oil product that is still sold today, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline in modern times), paid an endorsement fee to Betances to have him appear on advertisements on

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

magazines and newspapers all over New York City and the Caribbean, based on his solid reputation as a doctor. Betances introduced new surgical and

aseptic Asepsis is the state of being free from disease-causing micro-organisms (such as pathogenic bacteria, viruses, pathogenic fungi, and parasites). There are two categories of asepsis: medical and surgical. The modern day notion of asepsis is deri ...

procedures to Puerto Rico. With the assistance of Venezuelan

anesthesiologist Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology, or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine ...

Pedro Arroyo, Betances performed the first ever surgical procedure under

chloroform Chloroform, or trichloromethane, is an organic compound with chemical formula, formula Carbon, CHydrogen, HChlorine, Cl3 and a common organic solvent. It is a colorless, strong-smelling, dense liquid produced on a large scale as a precursor to ...

in Puerto Rico, in November 1862. At the same time he spent a considerable amount of time serving Mayagüez's disadvantaged on a

pro bono ( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...

basis. He gave many donations to the poor, and because of this he became known as "The Father of the Poor" among "''Mayagüezanos''" according to his contemporary,

Eugenio María de Hostos Eugenio María de Hostos (January 11, 1839 – August 11, 1903), known as "''El Gran Ciudadano de las Américas''" ("The Great Citizen of the Americas"), was a Puerto Rican educator, philosopher, intellectual, lawyer, sociologist, novelist, an ...

Exile in the Dominican Republic

The

had its second war for independence in 1844, which was successful in obtaining independence from

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. Spain reannexed the country at the request of its then-dictator, Gen.

Pedro Santana Pedro Santana y Familias, 1st Marquess of Las Carreras (June 29, 1801June 14, 1864) was a Dominican military commander and royalist politician who served as the president of the junta that had established the First Dominican Republic, a pr ...

(who attempted to benefit personally from the event), in 1861. A third revolt, the '' War of Restoration'', sought independence from the Spanish in 1863. Its leaders used Haiti as a guerrilla base, since the Haitian government feared a Spanish takeover and the restoration of slavery in the occupied territories, and was thus sympathetic to their cause. Their stronghold, however, was the

Cibao The Cibao, usually referred as "El Cibao", is a region of the Dominican Republic located at the northern part of the country. As of 2009 the Cibao has a population of 5,622,378 making it the most populous region in the country. The region constit ...

valley in the northeastern part of Hispaniola. At the same time, the Spanish government, which ruled over Puerto Rico, attempted to banish Betances for a second time, but he and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and city administrator who became his closest friend and political companion) fled the island before they were apprehended. Both fled to the northern city of Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic in 1861, where Betances established a close personal friendship with Gen.

Gregorio Luperón Gregorio Luperón (September 8, 1839 – May 21, 1897) was a Dominican president, military general, businessman, liberal politician, freemason, and Statesman who was one of the leaders in the Restoration of the Dominican Republic after the Span ...

, the military leader of the northern pro-independence faction who led the efforts to restore Dominican sovereignty over their country. Betances was also a collaborator of Dominican priest (and later Archbishop of Santo Domingo and one-time president of the country), Fernando Arturo de Meriño, who was the revolt's ideological leader (as well as its delegate in Puerto Rico when he was himself exiled by the restored republican government). These two friendships would prove to be key to Betances' own efforts to achieve Puerto Rican independence later on. The volatility of the Dominican situation was severe at the time: Luperón fought a guerrilla war against the Spanish and Santana and became vice-president of the country (in 1863), only to be exiled to Saint Thomas because of his opposition to president

Buenaventura Báez Ramón Buenaventura Báez Méndez (July 14, 1812March 14, 1884), was a Dominican politician and military figure. He was president of the Dominican Republic for five nonconsecutive terms. His rule was characterized by being very corrupt and govern ...

' wishes to annex the country to the United States (in 1864), to later return, provoke a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

and be part of a three-way presidency (1866), only to be exiled once again (1868).Moscoso, Francisco
Betances, El Grito y St. Thomas
Whenever Luperón was in the Dominican Republic, Betances could use it as a base of operations for his later political and military objectives, while offering Luperón logistical and financial assistance in return. Since Betances' exile depended on who was governing Puerto Rico at the time, a change in government allowed him to return to Mayagüez in 1862. However, a few years later, (1868) Luperón and Betances would both end up exiled in Saint Thomas.

Second return to Mayagüez

After returning to Puerto Rico, Betances and Ruiz proposed the establishment of a municipal hospital to take care of the city's poor. The hospital, named ''Hospital San Antonio'', opened on January 18, 1865, with subscription funds and an assignment from the Spanish local government. The ''Hospital San Antonio'' is now an obstetrics and

pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...

hospital in the city. Ruiz was a Freemason who invited Betances to join his lodge, the ''Logia Unión Germana'' in nearby San Germán. They both founded (or revived, depending on the source) the ''Logia Yagüez'', so as to have a local lodge in Mayagüez. Based on his Masonic beliefs, Ruiz also attempted to establish a university in the city, for which he mortgaged his house. However, the Spanish government actively discouraged the founding of secondary education institutions in Puerto Rico (so as not to have "seedlings for revolt" come out of them), and the project was canceled.

Simplicia Jiménez

Betances met his lifelong companion, Simplicia Isolina Jiménez Carlo, in 1864. Jiménez apparently was born in what would later become the Dominican Republic, on July 28, 1842. Her mother's last name, Carlo, rather common in Cabo Rojo, implies that her family had ties to the town. She worked for one of Betances' sisters between 1863 and 1864, and he met her once at his sister's house. Apparently she was infatuated with him strongly enough to appear at his door with a pair of suitcases, asking him to give her shelter, since "no gentleman would leave a woman alone on the street at night." Jiménez then became Betances' common-law wife for thirty-five years, and survived his death in 1898. They would not have any children. Their

godchild In infant baptism and denominations of Christianity, a godparent (also known as a sponsor, or '' gossiprede'') is someone who bears witness to a child's christening and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelon ...

, Magdalena Caraguel, was eventually adopted by the couple as their daughter. Little else is documented about Jiménez in history books, and Betances rarely mentions her in his works and correspondence. While still living in Mayagüez, Betances built a house for himself and his wife, which they only lived in for less than two years; the house, named the ''Casa de los Cinco Arcos'' (House of the Five Arches), still stands on the street that bears his name near the corner with

Luis Muñoz Rivera Luis Muñoz Rivera (July 17, 1859 – November 15, 1916) was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist and politician. He was a major figure in the struggle for political autonomy of Puerto Rico in union with Spain. In 1887, Muñoz Rivera became part ...

street, south of the city's center.

''"Padre de la Patria"'' (Father of the Puerto Rican Nation)

Seeds for revolt in Puerto Rico

The Spanish government was involved in several conflicts across Latin America: war with the

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

(see below), slave revolts in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, a bad economic situation in its colonies, among others. It attempted to appease the growing discontent of the citizens of its remaining colonies in the continent by setting up a board of review that would receive complaints from representatives of the colonies and attempt to adjust legislation that affected them. This board, the ''"Junta Informativa de Reformas de Ultramar"'' (Overseas Informative Reform Board) would be formed by representatives of each colony, in proportion to their collective population, and would meet in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. The Junta would report to the then Minister of Foreign Affairs,

Emilio Castelar Emilio Castelar y Ripoll (7 September 183225 May 1899) was a Spanish republican politician, and a president of the First Spanish Republic. Castelar was born in Cádiz. He was an eloquent orator and a writer. Appointed as Head of State in 1873 i ...

. The Puerto Rican delegation was freely elected by those eligible to vote (male Caucasian property owners), in a rare exercise of political openness in the colony.

was elected to the Junta representing Mayagüez, something that horrified the then governor general of the island. To the frustration of the Puerto Rican delegates, including its leader,

José Julián Acosta José Julián Acosta (February 16, 1825 – August 26, 1891), was a journalist and an advocate of the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico. Early years José Julián Acosta Calbo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico to Francisco de Acosta y Sandova ...

, the Junta had a majority of Spanish-born delegates, which would vote down almost every measure they suggested. However, Acosta could convince the Junta that abolition could be achieved in Puerto Rico without disrupting the local economy (including its Cuban members, who frowned upon implementing it in Cuba because of its much higher numbers of slave labor). Once he became prime minister in 1870, Castelar did approve an abolition bill, praising the efforts of the Puerto Rico members, sincerely moved by Acosta's arguments. However, beyond abolition, proposals for autonomy were voted down, as were other petitions to limit the unlimited power the governor general would have upon virtually all aspects of life in Puerto Rico. Once the Junta members returned to Puerto Rico, they met with local community leaders in a famed meeting at the Hacienda El Cacao in

Carolina, Puerto Rico Carolina (; ) is a city and municipality located on the northeast coast of Puerto Rico. It lies immediately east of the capital San Juan and Trujillo Alto; north of Gurabo and Juncos; and west of Canóvanas and Loíza. Carolina is spread over ...

in early 1865. Betances was invited by Ruiz and did attend. After listening to the Junta members' list of voted-down measures, Betances stood up and retorted: ''" Nadie puede dar lo que no tiene"'' (No one can give others what they don't have for themselves), a phrase that he would constantly use through the rest of his life when referring to Spain's unwillingness to grant Puerto Rico or Cuba any reforms. He would then suggest setting up a revolt and proclaim independence as soon as possible. Many of the meeting's attendants sided with Betances, to the horror of Acosta.

Organizer of the Grito de Lares

In late June 1867 Betances and at least 12 more potential "revolutionaries" were exiled from Puerto Rico by then governor Gen. José María Marchessi y Oleaga as a preventive measure, including Goyco and Ruiz. A battalion of local soldiers had revolted in San Juan earlier, protesting about their poor pay, compared to that of their Spanish counterparts living in Puerto Rico. Betances later stated that the revolt (called the ''"Motín de Artilleros"'' by historians) was unrelated to his revolutionary plans, and that he actually did not mind the troops stationed in Puerto Rico that much, since they would have been ill-prepared for stopping a well-developed pro-independence revolt at the time anyway. Marchesi feared that the United States, which had made an offer to purchase what were then the Danish Virgin Islands, would rather instigate a revolt in Puerto Rico so as to later annex the island—which would make a better military base in the Caribbean—at a lesser economic cost. His fears were not without base, since the then American consul in the island, Alexander Jourdan, suggested precisely this to then Secretary of State

William H. Seward William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senator. A determined oppon ...

, but only after the expulsions (September 1867). Some of the expelled (such as Carlos Elías Lacroix and José Celis Aguilera) set up camp in Saint Thomas. Betances and Ruiz, on the other hand, left for New York—where Basora had previously gone—soon after. They soon founded the ''" Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico"'', along with other Puerto Ricans living in the city. After signing a letter that could serve as proof of his intentions of becoming a United States citizen (mainly to prevent his arrest elsewhere) Betances then returned to the Dominican Republic in September 1867, where he attempted to organize an armed expedition that was to invade Puerto Rico. However, under threat of arrest by

—who saw Betances as siding with his enemies and wanted him executed—Betances took asylum at the United States embassy in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

, and headed for Charlotte Amalie soon after.

The Ten Commandments of Free Men

Betances was responsible for numerous proclamations that attempted to arouse Puerto Rican nationalistic sentiment, written between 1861 and his death. The most famous of these i
''"Los Diez Mandamientos de los hombres libres"''
(The

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

of Free Men), written in exile in Saint Thomas in November 1867. It is directly based on the

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (french: Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789, links=no), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revolu ...

, adopted by France's National Assembly in 1789, which contained the principles that inspired the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

The ''Grito'' and its aftermath

Meanwhile, Ruiz Belvis, who headed the Committee, was supposed to gather financial support for the incoming Puerto Rican revolution through a tour of South America. He had received an invitation from Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, a Chilean diplomat, to coordinate a common front against Spanish interests in all of Latin America (Spain was still threatening Chile after the

Chincha Islands War The Chincha Islands War, also known as Spanish–South American War ( es, Guerra hispano-sudamericana), was a series of coastal and naval battles between Spain and its former colonies of Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia from 1865 to 1879. The ...

, and any revolution in the Caribbean would have been a welcome distraction). Vicuña promised to gather necessary support in Chile,

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

to help the Puerto Rican independence cause. However, Ruiz died in Valparaíso, Chile soon after his arrival in the country. He reportedly had

uremia Uremia is the term for high levels of urea in the blood. Urea is one of the primary components of urine. It can be defined as an excess of amino acid and protein metabolism end products, such as urea and creatinine, in the blood that would be no ...

and a

urethra The urethra (from Greek οὐρήθρα – ''ourḗthrā'') is a tube that connects the urinary bladder to the urinary meatus for the removal of urine from the body of both females and males. In human females and other primates, the urethra c ...

l obstruction, both of which deteriorated into

Fournier gangrene Fournier gangrene is a type of necrotizing fasciitis or gangrene affecting the external genitalia or perineum. It commonly occurs in older men, but it can also occur in women and children. It is more likely to occur in diabetics, alcoholics, or th ...

, which killed him soon after. Later speculation that Ruiz had been poisoned or killed has been countered by three facts: that Ruiz's brother, Mariano Ruiz Quiñones (who was the coordinator of the revolution in

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

), died of the same condition soon after (suggesting a genetic predisposition to it), that Betances had used a

catheter In medicine, a catheter (/ˈkæθətər/) is a thin tubing (material), tube made from medical grade materials serving a broad range of functions. Catheters are medical devices that can be inserted in the body to treat diseases or perform a surgi ...

on Ruiz before he left Saint Thomas to bring him some relief from his condition, and that Betances published a medical article in France twenty years later, in 1887, that discussed the condition, out of what he had described as many years of second-guessing what could have been done to save Ruiz's life. Betances was shaken psychologically by news of Ruiz's death, and also literally soon after: he and his wife also experienced an

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

and

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

on November 18, 1867, while in Saint Thomas. According to a letter he wrote, he and his wife vacated the building just before it collapsed, and were forced to live in a camp while

aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthquakes can have hundreds to thousand ...

s kept shaking the island for close to a month.Ojeda Reyes, Félix and Estrade, Paul, ''El Anciano Maravilloso'', TBR Gregorio Luperón met Betances in Saint Thomas, and offered to assist the Puerto Rican revolution, in exchange for help to overthrow Báez once the right circumstances were met. As a consequence, Betances organized revolutionary cells in Puerto Rico from exile, which would be led by leaders such as Manuel Rojas and

Mathias Brugman Mathias Brugman (birth name: Mathias Brugman Duliebre) (January 3, 1811 – September 30, 1868), a.k.a. Mathias Bruckman, was a leader in Puerto Rico's independence revolution against Spain known as El Grito de Lares (English: ''The Cry of Lares' ...

. Betances instructed

Mariana Bracetti Mariana Bracetti Cuevas (also spelled Bracety) (1825–1903) was a patriot and leader of the Puerto Rico independence movement in the 1860s. She is attributed with having knitted the flag that was intended to be used as the national emblem of P ...

to knit a flag for the revolution using the colors and basic design similar to that of the Dominican Republic (which in turn was almost identical to a French military standard). Betances was also supposed to send reinforcements to the Puerto Rican rebels through the use of a ship purchased by Puerto Rican and Dominican revolutionaries, ''"El Telégrafo"'' (which was to be shared by both), but the ship was

confiscated Confiscation (from the Latin ''confiscatio'' "to consign to the ''fiscus'', i.e. transfer to the treasury") is a legal form of seizure by a government or other public authority. The word is also used, popularly, of spoliation under legal forms, ...

soon after arrival by the government of the then Danish (later United States) Virgin Islands. Eventually all these factors led the way to the abortive insurrection known as the "''Grito de Lares''", whose date had to be brought forward to September 23, 1868. The ''Grito'' found Betances between

and Saint Thomas, struggling to send reinforcements in time for the revolt. After the failed insurrection, Betances did not return to Puerto Rico, except for "secret" visits, according to the obituary written about him by the '' New York Herald'' after his death. There is no evidence of these, although Betances suggests a visit did occur at some time between 1867 and 1869, and perhaps again in the 1880s.

In New York

Betances fled to New York City in April 1869, where he again joined Basora in his efforts to organize Puerto Rican revolutionaries into additional activities leading to independence. He joined the Cuban Revolutionary Junta, whose members were more successful at their drive for armed revolution for Cuba, which had started with the ''"Grito de

Yara Yara may refer to: People * YARA (girl group), a Filipino girl group * Yara (given name) * Yara (surname), a Japanese surname * Yara (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese pop singer * Yara (footballer) (born 1964), Brazilian footballer Locations * Y ...

"'', just two weeks after the Grito de Lares. He also lobbied the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

successfully against an annexation of the Dominican Republic by the United States, requested in a vote by a majority of voters in a referendum in 1869. He also befriended Venezuelan military leader and former president

José Antonio Páez José Antonio Páez Herrera (; 13 June 1790 – 6 May 1873) was a Venezuelan leader who fought against the Spanish Crown for Simón Bolívar during the Venezuelan War of Independence. He later led Venezuela's independence from Gran Colombia. ...

in his final days. Betances stayed in New York from April 1869 through February 1870.

In Hispaniola

Somewhat disillusioned by his experience in New York City (he had philosophical differences with some leaders of the Antillean liberation movements, particularly with

), Betances spent a short interlude in

Jacmel Jacmel (; ht, Jakmèl) is a commune in southern Haiti founded by the Spanish in 1504 and repopulated by the French in 1698. It is the capital of the department of Sud-Est, 24 miles (39 km) southwest of Port-au-Prince across the Tiburon Peninsu ...

in 1870 at the request of its then-president, Jean Nissage-Saget, who supported Betances' efforts to have a liberal government for the Dominican Republic take power. He later spent some time in the Cibao valley (in both

Santiago de los Caballeros Santiago de los Caballeros (; '' en, Saint James of the Knights''), often shortened to Santiago, is the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic and the fourth-largest city in the Caribbean by population. It is the capital of Santiago Prov ...

and Puerto Plata) where Luperón and Betances attempted to organize another revolt, this time against conservative elements in the Dominican Republic. While in New York, Betances wrote and translated numerous political treatises, proclamations and works that were published in the newspaper ''"La Revolución"'', under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

"El Antillano" (The Antillean One). He was vehement about the need for natives of the Greater Antilles to unite into an Antillean Confederation, a regional entity that would seek to preserve the sovereignty and well-being of

, the

and

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 ...

. Betances also promoted direct intervention of Puerto Ricans in the Cuban independence struggle, which eventually happened in the Cuban War of Independence (1895–98). Spain had promoted political reform in Puerto Rico, and the local political climate was not conducive to a second revolution at the time. Therefore, Betances and the Puerto Rican revolutionaries ceded their caches of firearms hidden in Saint Thomas, Curaçao and Haiti to the Cuban rebels in October 1871, since their struggle was deemed as a priority. Betances admired the United States of America for its ideals of freedom and democracy, but despised

Manifest Destiny Manifest destiny was a cultural belief in the 19th century in the United States, 19th-century United States that American settlers were destined to expand across North America. There were three basic tenets to the concept: * The special vir ...

and the

Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine was a United States foreign policy position that opposed European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It held that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers was a potentially hostile ac ...

, and sensed that both philosophies were being used as excuses for American interventions on the continent. When Cuban revolutionaries requested help from the United States for reinforcing their armed struggle against Spain, Betances warned them against giving too much away. He feared American interventionism in the affairs of a free Cuba, and vehemently attacked Cuban leaders who suggested the

annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

of Cuba by the United States. Some of his fears became reality years later, when the

Platt Amendment On March 2, 1901, the Platt Amendment was passed as part of the 1901 Army Appropriations Bill.

Return to France

Expecting to bring some stability to his personal life, Betances had Simplicia Jiménez meet him again in Haiti (she had been living in

St. Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...

since he was evicted from Saint Thomas, to ensure her safety), and returned with her to Paris where he continued to fight for Puerto Rico's independence for close to 26 years. He established his medical office at ''6(bis), Rue de Châteaudun'' (), four streets away from the city's Palais Garnier. One of the events that gave Betances great satisfaction was the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico, which was made official on March 22, 1873. He reminded people that abolition would not have happened without the direct intervention of Puerto Ricans in the Spanish political process, and was thus hopeful that the islanders would assume a more proactive role in seeking their freedom from Spain. With time, Betances became essentially the representative of the liberal governments of the Dominican Republic for as long as they lasted, and the representative of the Cuban "government in arms", or insurrection."Reunirán legado completo de Betances"
Primera Hora (online edition), April 14, 2007.

Diplomatic and revolutionary activities

Diplomat for the Dominican Republic

Soon after his return to France, Betances became the first secretary to the

's diplomatic mission to France, but virtually assumed the role of ambassador. He also became the commercial representative of the Dominican government in Paris,

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

and London. At one time Betances attempted to be a

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...

partner on a failed enterprise that attempted to commercialize the use of

Samaná Bay Samaná Bay is a bay in the eastern Dominican Republic. The Yuna River flows into Samaná Bay, and it is located south of the town of Samaná and the Samaná Peninsula. Wildlife Among its features are protected islands that serve as nesting site ...

to benefit the Dominican Republic, and also to prevent foreign interests (particularly the United States) from taking over the bay, which was considered a primary strategic geographical feature of Hispaniola, in both commercial and military terms. Luperón would eventually arrive in Paris as a named ambassador, but Betances' connections in the city proved to be key to whatever success Luperón had as a diplomat in France. They would assume this role until political turmoil in the Dominican Republic forced Luperón to return and lead yet another revolt, which had another Puerto Plata native,

Ulises Heureaux Ulises Hilarión Heureaux Leibert (; October 21, 1845 – July 26, 1899) nicknamed Lilís, was president of the Dominican Republic from September 1, 1882 to September 1, 1884, from January 6, 1887 to February 27, 1889 and again from April 30, 18 ...

, installed as president. Betances sought support for Luperón's efforts, and gave him tactical and financial assistance from France. Heureaux, however, became a despot once he assumed the presidency. Luperón felt betrayed and went again into exile in Saint Thomas. Eventually he died of cancer, not before visiting Betances in France for a last time and being allowed to return to the Dominican Republic to die, as a gesture of good will from Heureaux. Due to Heureaux's protracted presidency and blatant acts of corruption, Betances (who had called Heureaux his "grandson" in letters he had previously written to him) was forced to cut ties to the Dominican Republic for good (two plots of land that he owned both there and in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

were used for agricultural experiments, but were later left unattended). Betances writes in his letters that he had spent the equivalent of US$20,000 (in 1880 dollars, roughly equivalent to US$400,000 in 2010) on expenditures on behalf of the Dominican diplomatic office. He did not expect the Dominican government to be able to reimburse him.

Support for Cuba's independence and José Maceo's freedom

Immediately after returning to Paris, Betances became a key contact for the Cuban insurgency in Paris. He made several fund raising efforts, including one that attempted to fund

quinine Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to '' Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal le ...

shipments to the Cuban rebels, to ease their pain when infected by

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

in the island battlefields. These efforts outlasted the

Pact of Zanjón The Pact of Zanjón ended the armed struggle of Cubans for independence from the Spanish Empire that lasted from 1868 to 1878, the Ten Years' War. On February 10, 1878, a group of negotiators representing the rebels gathered in Zanjón, a village ...

, which ended the

Ten Years' War The Ten Years' War ( es, Guerra de los Diez Años; 1868–1878), also known as the Great War () and the War of '68, was part of Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. The uprising was led by Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives. O ...

in 1878. Betances also used his diplomatic contacts to guarantee humane treatment (and eventually freedom from imprisonment) to José Maceo, the brother of Antonio Maceo, the later military leader of the Cuban War of Independence, when both Antonio and José were arrested by the Spanish government in 1882. The Maceo brothers both escaped imprisonment, were recaptured in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

and turned over to the Spanish authorities, but José remained in jail long after Antonio regained his liberty and fled to New York City. Betances even used

Lord Gladstone Herbert John Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone, (7 January 1854 – 6 March 1930) was a British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician. The youngest son of William Ewart Gladstone, he was Home Secretary from 1905 to 1910 and Governor-General o ...

as a mediator, and attempted to convince him of having

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

(where his family had properties) join an Antillean Federation.

Betances and Máximo Gómez

When Puerto Rico experienced a period of severe political repression in 1887 by the Spanish governor of the time, Romualdo Palacio (which led to the arrest of many local political leaders, including

Román Baldorioty de Castro Román Baldorioty de Castro (23 February 1822 – 30 September 1889) was Puerto Rican abolitionist and spokesman for the island's right to self-determination. In 1870, he was elected as a deputy in the Cortes Generales, the Spanish parliament, ...

Máximo Gómez Máximo Gómez y Báez (November 18, 1836 – June 17, 1905) was a Dominican Generalissimo in Cuba's War of Independence (1895–1898). He was known for his controversial scorched-earth policy, which entailed dynamiting passenger trains a ...

, who was living in Panama at the time (at the time, he supervised a laborers' brigade during the construction of the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

) offered his services to Betances, sold most of his personal belongings to finance a revolt in Puerto Rico, and volunteered to lead any Puerto Rican troops had such revolt occur. The revolt was deemed unnecessary later in the year, when the Spanish government recalled Palacio from office to investigate charges of abuse of power from his part, but Gómez and Betances established a friendship and logistical relationship that lasted until Betances' death in 1898.

Betances and José Martí

Years later, due to Betances' experience as a logistics facilitator of armed revolts, a fund raiser for the Cuban independence cause, and as a diplomat,

José Martí José Julián Martí Pérez (; January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895) was a Cuban nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the libera ...

asked Betances to become the leader of Cuban revolutionaries in France. Betances never met Martí personally, but Martí did know Betances' younger sister, Eduviges, who lived in New York City and shared her brother's revolutionary ideals. Martí assisted her financially in her final days, out of admiration for the Betances' family. Betances accepted the assignment out of gratitude towards Martí. Soon after, Martí died in battle in Cuba in 1895, an event that brought

Tomás Estrada Palma Tomás Estrada Palma (c. July 6, 1832 – November 4, 1908) was a Cuban politician, the president of the Cuban Republican in Arms during the Ten Years' War, and the first President of Cuba, between May 20, 1902, and September 28, 1906. His coll ...

to the leadership of the Cuban insurrection movement.

Betances and Tomás Estrada Palma

In April 1896 Betances was granted diplomatic credentials on behalf of the revolutionary government of Cuba. He became an active fund raiser and recruiter on behalf of the Cuban pro-independence movement. He also served as press officer and intelligence contact for the Cuban rebels in exile, and attempted to coordinate support for the pro-independence movement in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Betances openly hated Estrada when he first met him in the late 1870s, but grew more tolerant of him with time, and even defended Estrada's actions as leader when he assumed control of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. The Puerto Rican affiliates to the Party viewed Estrada's leadership with great skepticism, since Estrada sympathized with the idea of having the United States intervene in the Cuban independence war to have the Spanish evicted from Cuba. They suspected that his weak leadership allowed opportunists to profit from an invasion and even suggest that the United States keep Puerto Rico in exchange for independence for Cuba. Some written evidence points to the truth of their affirmations, at least to the extent of wanting to have the Puerto Rican section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party shut down, which eventually did happen.

The ''Intentona de Yauco''

In 1897, Antonio Mattei Lluveras, a wealthy coffee plantation owner from Yauco, visited the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee in New York City. There he met with Ramón Emeterio Betances, Juan de Mata Terreforte and Aurelio Méndez Martínez and together they proceeded to plan a major coup. The uprising, which became known as the

Intentona de Yauco The ''Intentona de Yauco'' (the "Attempted Coup of Yauco") of March 1897 was the second and final major revolt against Spanish colonial rule in Puerto Rico, staged by the island's pro-independence movement in the second half of the nineteenth ce ...

was to be directed by Betances, organized by Aurelio Mendez Mercado and the armed forces were to be commanded by General Juan Ríus Rivera. The coup, which was the second and last major revolt against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico failed.''Historia militar de Puerto Rico'' by

Héctor Andrés Negroni Colonel Héctor Andrés Negroni (born January 30, 1938) is a United States Air Force officer, historian, senior aerospace defense executive, author, and the first Puerto Rican graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. He was commissioned ...

(Author); Pages: 305–06; Publisher: Sociedad Estatal Quinto Centenario (1992); Language: Spanish; Betances was also a government representative for some of the governments of

while in Paris. He was also technically a diplomat for the United States of America once.

Morales Plan

Through coordination with Betances and local pro-independence leaders in Puerto Rico, a Dominican military leader, Gen. José Morales, made plans to invade Puerto Rico in the late 1890s, to supply local revolutionaries with supplies and mercenaries, and take advantage of the weak Spanish military presence in Puerto Rico (there were only 4,500 Spanish soldiers in the island at the time, and 1,000 of them were later redirected to Cuba to fight the Cuban insurrection). However, the Cuban Revolutionary Party rejected the plan as being too expensive. Betances, who had collected more money in France for the Party than the plan's potential cost, grew weary of the Cuban revolutionary movement's diminishing support of the Puerto Rico independence cause. By then, some of the Party's followers stationed in France wanted Betances to be stripped of his posts and assignments. At least two of them insulted him publicly, and even took advantage of Simplicia Jiménez's mental health to have her harass her husband systematically. Given the events happening in Cuba at the time, Betances thought that his diplomatic work was more important than ever. However, his failing health (he had

, and since his lungs could not exchange oxygen properly this put extra burden to his heart and kidneys) prevented Betances from performing further diplomatic work from France on behalf of Puerto Rico or Cuba. His illness, which lasted more than a year, prevented him from performing medical work, and forced the Party to approve a stipend for Betances during his long illness, until his death.

The Cánovas Affair

There is some speculation that the assassination of Spanish prime minister

Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo (8 February 18288 August 1897) was a Spanish politician and historian known principally for serving six terms as Prime Minister and his overarching role as "architect" of the regime that ensued with the 1874 restor ...

by Italian anarchist

Michele Angiolillo Michele Angiolillo Lombardi (; 5 June 1871 – 20 August 1897) was an Italian anarchist, born in Foggia, Italy. He assassinated Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo in 1897 and was captured and executed by Spanish authorities in t ...

in 1897 was at least supported or influenced by Betances, and possibly even planned by him (although there is no physical link that can be established that might link Betances to the event itself). Betances' role in the Cánovas assassination is described by Puerto Rican (born in France) author Luis Bonafoux in his biography about Betances (written in 1901), and partially corroborated by later historians. These sources establish that Betances' circle of friends at the time included various Italian anarchists exiled in Paris, Domenico Tosti being one of them. Tosti and his friends would hold regular social events, during one of which Angiolillo was introduced to Betances. Impressed by Betances' credentials, Angiolillo later approached Betances before the incident, and discussed his plans with him, which originally implied killing one or more young members of the Spanish royal family.Ojeda Reyes, Félix, ''El Desterrado de París'', p. 356 Betances then dissuaded him from doing this. Angiolillo then apparently suggested Cánovas as a target instead. There is evidence that Betances financed Angiolillo's travel to Spain, and used his contacts to have Angiolillo reach and enter Spanish territory under a false identity. Further speculation that Angiolillo used a firearm that Betances himself furnished for him appears to be unfounded (although Betances, who was a fan of firearms himself —he taught a Cuban revolutionary leader on how to use a

Remington Remington may refer to: Organizations * Remington Arms, American firearms manufacturer * Remington Rand, American computer manufacturer * Remington Products, American manufacturer of shavers and haircare products * Remington College, American c ...

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

once— gave at least one as a gift to one of his acquaintances). Betances sympathized with anarchists like Angiolillo, and hated monarchists like Cánovas, but this alone would not justify direct action from Betances into taking Cánovas' life. Betances did state at the time, however, that "in Spain there is only one true retrograde and reactionary leader, and he is precisely the one who confronts Cuba with a policy of '(spending in a war up to) the very last man and the very last '' peseta'',' the one who tries to suffocate all efforts that her patriots do to free her, and that man is Antonio Cánovas del Castillo." Angiolillo, in true solidarity with the European anarchist current, sought to avenge the execution and/or torture of those implicated in a bombing against a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

religious procession in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, which occurred in 1896, and for which Cánovas sought the maximum penalties allowed by law. The truth is that Puerto Rican liberal interests benefited directly from the Cánovas assassination, since by Cánovas' death a pact made (previous to the event) between the new Spanish prime minister,

Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Práxedes Mariano Mateo Sagasta y Escolar (21 July 1825 – 5 January 1903) was a Spanish civil engineer and politician who served as Prime Minister on eight occasions between 1870 and 1902—always in charge of the Liberal Party—as part of th ...

, and Puerto Rican liberals headed by

would come into effect soon after. It allowed the establishment of a new autonomy charter for the island territory, which gave Puerto Rico broader political powers than at any other time before or since. Before his execution, Angiolillo claimed sole responsibility for the assassination. When asked about his involvement in the Cánovas affair, Betances said: ''"No aplaudimos pero tampoco lloramos"'' ("We don't applaud it, but we don't cry over it, either"), and added: ''"Los revolucionarios verdaderos hacen lo que deben hacer"'' ("True revolutionaries do what they ought to do"). Betances' ambiguous response blurs the true level of his involvement in the Cánovas assassination.

Legion of Honor award

Betances was awarded the rank of Chévalier (Knight) of the Legion of Honor by the

French government The Government of France (French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who i ...

in July 1887, for his work as a diplomat for the Dominican Republic, and for his work as a medical doctor in France. He had been offered the award as early as 1882, but had repeatedly declined the honor out of

humility Humility is the quality of being humble. Dictionary definitions accentuate humility as a low self-regard and sense of unworthiness. In a religious context humility can mean a recognition of self in relation to a deity (i.e. God), and subsequent ...

, until friends from Puerto Rico persuaded him to accept it as a tribute to Puerto Rico, and not as a personal award. The French Legion of Honor (Légion d'honneur) is the premier order of France, and its award is one of great distinction.

Efforts to counter the U.S. annexation of Puerto Rico

In 1898 Betances attempted to use his diplomatic contacts to impede a Puerto Rico annexation by the United States, which was deemed imminent by the events following the sinking of the

USS Maine Four ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS ''Maine'', named for the 23rd state: * , was a battleship whose 1898 sinking precipitated the Spanish–American War. * , launched in 1901, was the lead ship of her class of battleships ...

. He knew that Puerto Ricans would welcome an American invasion, but was vehement about the possibility of the United States not conceding independence to Puerto Rico. Betances was willing to accept some political concessions to the North American government in exchange for independence, and exchanged some privileged intelligence information (about the level of debt Spain had attained while fighting the Cuban insurrection) with the then-ambassador of the United States to France,

Horace Porter Horace Porter (April 15, 1837May 29, 1921) was an American soldier and diplomat who served as a lieutenant colonel, ordnance officer and staff officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, personal secretary to General and President Ul ...

, so as to show goodwill towards the United States. Frustrated by what he perceived as the unwillingness of Puerto Ricans to demand their independence from the United States while the island territory was annexed (the event occurred just days before his death), he uttered his final political stance: ''"No quiero colonia, ni con España, ni con los Estados Unidos"'' ("I don't want a colony status, neither with Spain nor with the United States"). When reminded by de Hostos through a letter of what was happening in the island, he responded, highly frustrated, with a phrase that has become famous since: ''"¿Y qué les pasa a los puertorriqueños que no se rebelan?"'' ("And what's wrong with Puerto Ricans that they haven't yet rebelled?") Betances' last days were chaotic, not only because of the events in the Caribbean, but also because of what happening in his own household. Jiménez' mental state is reported as dubious by then. Some even suggest that she had become an

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

(probably) or even a

morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a analgesic, pain medication, and is also commonly used recreational drug, recreationally, or to make ...

addict (unlikely) by then, and she even wished for her husband to die in tantrums reported by his doctors. Political foes attempted to gain possession of Betances' intelligence dossiers, as did Spanish intelligence agents in Paris. Betances asked personal friends to keep personal guard of him, which they did until he died.

Death

Betances died at 10:00 a.m., local time, in Neuilly-sur-Seine on Friday, September 16, 1898. His remains were

cremated Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre i ...

soon after and entombed at the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figure ...

of Paris on Monday, September 19. He had requested that no formal ceremony be made for his funeral. His common law-wife Simplicia survived him for over 20 years. A look at his

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

implies that, besides a life insurance policy payout and two parcels of land in the

, Betances died almost in

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

. As early as in February 1913, poet and lawyer Luis Lloréns Torres had publicly requested that Betances' wishes to have his ashes returned to Puerto Rico be fulfilled. The Nationalist Association (predecessor of the

Puerto Rican Nationalist Party The Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico ( es, Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico, PNPR) is a Puerto Rican political party founded on September 17, 1922, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its primary goal is to work for Puerto Rico's independence. The P ...

), under the presidency of

José Coll y Cuchí José Coll y Cuchí (January 12, 1877 – July 2, 1960) was a lawyer, writer and the founder of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. He was a member of a Puerto Rican family of politicians, educators and writers.See: "Notable family members" sect ...

, was able to convince the Puerto Rican Legislative Assembly to approve an act that would allow the transfer of the mortal remains of Puerto Rican patriot Ramón Emeterio Betances from Paris, France, to Puerto Rico. Seven years after the act's approval, the Legislative Assembly commissioned one of its delegates, Alfonso Lastra Charriez, to serve as an emissary and bring Betances' remains from France. Betances' remains arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico on August 5, 1920, and were honored upon arrival by a crowd then estimated at 20,000 mourners. The large crowd, which had assembled near the port of San Juan as early as 4:00 a.m. ( AST) that morning, was the largest ever assembled for a funeral in Puerto Rico since the death of

three years earlier. Media reporters of the day were surprised by the size of the crowd, given the fact that Betances had not visited Puerto Rico (at least in the open) for the 31 years before his death, and had been dead over 21 years afterwards. A funeral caravan organized by the Nationalist Party transferred the remains from the capital to the town of Cabo Rojo. It took the caravan two days to make the route. Once Betances' remains reached the city of Mayagüez, 8,000 mourners paid their respects. Betances' remains were laid to rest in Cabo Rojo's municipal cemetery. A few decades later his remains were moved to a monument designed to honor Betances in the town's plaza. There is a bust created by the Italian sculptor Diego Montano alongside the Grito de Lares revolutionary flag and the

Puerto Rican flag The flag of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Bandera de Puerto Rico) represents and symbolizes Puerto Rico and its people. The origins of the current flag of Puerto Rico, adopted by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 1952, can be traced to 1868, whe ...

in the plaza, which is also named after Betances. A marble plaque commemorating Betances was unveiled at his Paris house by a delegation of Puerto Rican, Cuban and French historians on the 100th. anniversary of his death, on September 16, 1998.

Legacy

According to Puerto Ricans and

French historians This is a list of French historians limited to those with a biographical entry in either English or French Wikipedia. Major chroniclers, annalists, philosophers, or other writers are included, if they have important historical output. Names are lis ...

in three different fields (medicine, literature and politics), Betances left a legacy that has been considerably understated, and is only being assessed properly in recent times.

Complete Works

Betances' two primary biographers, Paul Estrade and Félix Ojeda Reyes, have announced the publication of a compilation of Betances' complete works, comprising 14 volumes. José Carvajal is the collection's editor. The first two volumes were formally published in Mayagüez on April 8, 2008. The first volume features most of Betances' written works about medicine; the second features intimate letters and document excerpts Betances wrote to family and friends over a span of 39 years. A third volume, which compiles some of Betances' literary works, was published in 2009. The ''Voz del Centro'' Foundation in Puerto Rico released a series of youth-oriented books named "Voces de la Cultura – Edición Juvenil" that same year; its first title being ''"Doctor Ramón Emeterio Betances: Luchador por la libertad y los pobres"'' (''"Doctor R. E. Betances, Fighter for Liberty and the Poor"'').

Landmarks

In the United States

There is an elementary school in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, named in honor of Betances and Hartford's Puerto Rican community. There is an plaza and mural in the south end of Boston, Massachusetts, named in honor of Betances.

In Puerto Rico

As mentioned above, the main thoroughfare that crosses Mayagüez from north to south is named after Betances. In Ponce there is a

thoroughfare A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way as a transit route through regularly trafficked areas, whether by road on dry land or, by extension, via watercraft or aircraft. On land, a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a multi-lane highwa ...

linking downtown Ponce and Puerto Rico highway 14,

PR-14 Puerto Rico Highway 14 (PR-14) is a main highway connecting Cayey, Puerto Rico to Ponce, Puerto Rico. The road runs the same course as the historic Carretera Central. The Coamo-to-Ponce section of PR-14 was built under the direction of Spanish e ...

, which is named "Avenida Betances".

Political and sociological

In Puerto Rico

The political and sociological consequences of Betances' actions are definite and unequivocal. He was the first openly nationalistic political leader in Puerto Rico, and one of the first pro-independence leaders in the island nation's history (Among Puerto Ricans,

Antonio Valero de Bernabé Antonio Vicente Miguel Valero de Bernabé Pacheco (October 26, 1790 – June 7, 1863), a.k.a. The Liberator from Puerto Rico, was a Puerto Rican military leader. Trained in Spain, he fought with the Spanish Army to expel the French leader, Napol ...

and Andrés Vizcarrondo—earlier pro-independence leaders for the Latin American revolutions—could not achieve the success Betances had years later within Puerto Rico). The ''Grito de Lares'', using an often-quoted phrase that dates from 1868, ''"was the birth of Puerto Rican nationality, with Betances as its

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

"''. Nationalistic expressions in Puerto Rico—be they public affirmations, newspaper articles, poems, town meetings or outright revolts—were almost nonexistent before the 1810s election of

Ramón Power y Giralt Captain Ramón Power y Giralt (October 7, 1775 – June 10, 1813), commonly known as Ramón Power, was, according to Puerto Rican historian Lidio Cruz Monclova, among the first native-born Puerto Ricans to refer to himself as a " Puerto Rican" a ...

to the Spanish Cortes, most of them were defined within the framework of loyalty to Spain as a metropolitan power (and thus subordinate to Spanish rule over Puerto Rico), and many of them were quickly suppressed by the Spanish government, which feared an escalation of nationalistic sentiment that, in other countries, led to the independence movements of Latin America. Although the seeds of both proactive government repression against the Puerto Rican independence movement had been planted before the Grito de Lares, and its aftermath only guaranteed the surge of

autonomism Autonomism, also known as autonomist Marxism is an anti-capitalist left-wing political and social movement and theory. As a theoretical system, it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerism (). Later, post-Marxist and anarchist tende ...

as a political alternative in the island, the level of cultural and social development of a collective Puerto Rican conscience was almost a direct consequence of the event. To put it simply, if there is any nationalistic sentiment in Puerto Rico in the present day, almost all of it can be traced back to Betances and his political work. Betances is considered a pioneer of Puerto Rican

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

. His ideas resulted from his exposure to

republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...

and

social activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

in France through the middle part of the 19th. century. These ideas, considered subversive in the severely restricted Puerto Rico of the era, had nevertheless a considerable impact in the island nation's political and social history. His ideas on race relations alone had a major impact on economics and the social makeup of the island.

In the Greater Antilles

Political events in Puerto Rico and Cuba between the late 1860s and 1898 forced a liberalization of Spanish policy towards both territories, and Betances was directly involved as a protagonist in both circumstances. As a firm believer in ''"Antillanismo"'' (the common improvement and unity of the countries that formed the

Greater Antilles The Greater Antilles ( es, Grandes Antillas or Antillas Mayores; french: Grandes Antilles; ht, Gwo Zantiy; jam, Grieta hAntiliiz) is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and ...

) Betances was also a strong supporter of the sovereignty of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. A Dominican historian and political leader, Manuel Rodríguez Objío, likened Betances' revolutionary work to that performed by

Tadeusz Kościuszko Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko ( be, Andréj Tadévuš Banavientúra Kasciúška, en, Andrew Thaddeus Bonaventure Kosciuszko; 4 or 12 February 174615 October 1817) was a Polish Military engineering, military engineer, statesman, an ...

for Poland,

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

and the United States of America. Paul Estrade, Betances' French biographer, likens him to

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...

Antonio José de Sucre Antonio José de Sucre y Alcalá (; 3 February 1795 – 4 June 1830), known as the "Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho" ( en, "Grand Marshal of Ayacucho"), was a Venezuelan independence leader who served as the president of Peru and as the second p ...

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; August 20, 1778 – October 24, 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry. Althou ...

and

José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (25 February 177817 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín () or '' the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru'', was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and cent ...

.Biografia del Dr.Ramón Emeterio Betances en Rincón del Vago
com

considered Betances one of his "teachers", or sources of political inspiration, and his diplomatic and intelligence work in France on behalf of the Cuban revolutionary junta greatly aided the cause, before it was directly influenced by the intervention of Gen.

Valeriano Weyler Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, 1st Duke of Rubí, 1st Marquess of Tenerife (17 September 1838 – 20 October 1930) was a Spanish general and colonial administrator who served as the Governor-General of the Philippines and Cuba, and later as S ...

as governor and commander of the Spanish forces in Cuba, and by the Maine incident later on. Paul Estrade, Betances' French biographer, assesses his legacy as an Antillean this way: "The Antilles have developed political, social and scientific ideas that have changed the world, and that Europe has used. Not everything has (a European) source. Betances is the maximum expression of this reality."

Medical

Betances wrote two books and various medical treatises while living in France. His doctoral

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

, ''"Des Causes de l'ávortement"'' (The Causes for Miscarriage) examines various possible causes for the spontaneous death of a fetus and/or its mother, was later used as a textbook on gynecology at some European universities. According to at least one medical practitioner who examined it in 1988, his attempt to explain the theory behind spontaneous contractions leading to

childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour and delivery, is the ending of pregnancy where one or more babies exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million births globall ...

were not very different from modern-day theories on the matter. Betances' experiences handling the Mayagüez cholera epidemic led to another book, ''"El Cólera: Historia, Medidas Profilácticas, Síntomas y Tratamiento"'' (Cholera: History, Preventive Measures, Symptoms and Treatments), which he authored and published in Paris in 1884 and expanded in 1890. The book was later used as a public health textbook in dealing with similar cholera epidemics in Latin America. Betances also wrote several medical articles while in France. One of the articles examines

elephantiasis Elephantiasis is the enlargement and hardening of limbs or body parts due to tissue swelling. It is characterised by edema, hypertrophy, and fibrosis of skin and subcutaneous tissues, due to obstruction of lymphatic vessels. It may affect the geni ...

; another deals with surgical

castration Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharma ...

, called "oscheotomy" at the time. Both books were also based on personal experience: there is evidence about a surgery he performed in Mayagüez on a Spanish government official with an elephantiasis lesion of the

scrotum The scrotum or scrotal sac is an anatomical male reproductive structure located at the base of the penis that consists of a suspended dual-chambered sac of skin and smooth muscle. It is present in most terrestrial male mammals. The scrotum co ...

the size of a

grapefruit The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The interior flesh is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark pink. Grapefruit is ...

for which the costs were paid for by the local government; another patient he operated upon had a lesion that weighed Ojeda Reyes, Félix, ''El Desterrado de París'', pp. 63–64 He also wrote an article on urethral obstructions in male patients (see above).

Literary

Betances was also one of the first Puerto Rican "writers-in-exile".Acevedo, Ramón Luis (as told to Collado Schwarz, Angel)
Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances: el literario
/ref> In 1851, a small group of Puerto Rican university students in Europe formed the ''"Sociedad Recolectora de Documentos Históricos de la Isla de San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico"'', a society that attempted to research and catalog historical documents about Puerto Rico from firsthand government sources. Betances became the Society's researcher in France. The result of the Society's research was published in an 1854 book, for which Betances contributed. Inspired by

Alejandro Tapia y Rivera Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander (Czech, Polish), Alexandre (French), Alexandros (Greek), Alsander (Irish), Alessandro (Italian), Aleksandr ( Ru ...

, the Society's organizer, who had written a novel inspired in Puerto Rican indigenous themes while studying in

, Betances writes his novel: ''"Les Deux Indiens: Épisode de la conquéte de Borinquen"'' (The Two Indians: an episode of the conquest of

Borinquen 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 ...

), and publishes it in Toulouse in 1853, with a second edition published in 1857 under the pseudonym ''"Louis Raymond"''. This novel would be the first of many literary works by Betances (most of which were written in French), and is notable for its indirect praise of Puerto Rican nationhood which, he suggests, was already developed in pre-Columbian Puerto Rico. This type of ''"indigenist literature"'' would become commonplace in Latin America in later years. He also wrote

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

in both French and Spanish for literary magazines in Paris, chiefly inspired by

Alphonse de Lamartine Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine (; 21 October 179028 February 1869), was a French author, poet, and statesman who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic and the continuation of the Tricolore as the flag of France. ...

and

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

Major works

*''

Toussaint Louverture François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (; also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda; 20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803) was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louverture ...

, Les Deux Indiéns'' (1852) *''Un premio de Luis XIV'' (1853) *''Las cortesanas en París'' (1853) *''La Vierge de Borinquén'' (1859)
''La botijuela''
(a.k.a. ''

Aulularia ''Aulularia'' is a Latin (language), Latin play by the early Ancient Rome, Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. The title literally means ''The Little Pot'', but some translators provide ''The Pot of Gold'', and the plot revolves around a lit ...

'', translation from the Latin original by

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the gen ...

, 1863) *''El Partido Liberal, su progreso y porvenir'' (translation from the French original by

Édouard René de Laboulaye __NOTOC__ Édouard René Lefèbvre de Laboulaye (; 18 January 1811 – 25 May 1883) was a French jurist, poet, author and anti-slavery activist. In 1865, he originated the idea of a monument presented by the French people to the United States th ...

, 1869) *''Washington Haitiano'' (essay about Alexandre Pétion, 1871) *''Los viajes de Scaldado'' (1890) Betances also wrote one of the two prologues of the book ''"Les détracteurs de la race noire et de la République d'Haiti"'' (''The detractors of the black race and the Republic of Haiti'', 1882)

References

Note: All references are in Spanish unless otherwise noted.

Primary sources

*Ojeda Reyes, Félix, ''El Desterrado de París: Biografía del Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances (1827–1898)'', Ediciones Puerto, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2001. () *Thomas, Hugh. ''Cuba: The pursuit for freedom''. Da Capo Press Inc. New York, United States, 1971. ()

Secondary sources

From "La Voz del Centro", a collection of

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

s hosted by Angel Collado Schwarz (all in Spanish,

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

format):
Ramón Emeterio Betances: Padre de la Patria, Médico de los Pobres, Poeta, Diplomático de Puerto Rico y Cuba en Francia.
– with Félix Ojeda Reyes, Betances' biographer
Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances: el médico
– with Eduardo Rodríguez Vázquez
Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances: el literario
– with Ramón Luis Acevedo
Betances, El Grito y St. Thomas
– with Francisco Moscoso

External links

*
Les détracteurs de la Race noire et de la République d'Haïti, réponses à M. Léo Quesnel: précédées de Lettres de M. Schœlcher, Sénateur, et de M. Le Dr Bétancès
{{DEFAULTSORT:Betances, Ramon Emeterio 1827 births 1898 deaths Lycée Pierre-de-Fermat alumni Puerto Rican Freemasons People from Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico People of the Spanish–American War Puerto Rican ophthalmologists Military history of Puerto Rico Puerto Rican columnists Puerto Rican journalists Puerto Rican abolitionists 19th-century Puerto Rican historians Puerto Rican military officers Puerto Rican nationalists Puerto Rican scientists Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Puerto Rican exiles Puerto Rican independence activists Puerto Rican revolutionaries 19th-century Puerto Rican people 19th-century journalists Male journalists Puerto Rican people of Dominican Republic descent 19th-century historians 19th-century male writers

Early years

Ancestry

First years in France

Primary education

Legal "whitening" of family

Medicine studies

Father's death and family's economic problems

First return to Puerto Rico

Cholera epidemic of 1856

Exile from and return to Puerto Rico

Abolitionist

''La vièrge de Boriquén'' (The ''Boriquén'' Virgin)

Return to Mayagüez and second exile

Doctor and surgeon

Exile in the Dominican Republic

Second return to Mayagüez

Simplicia Jiménez

''"Padre de la Patria"'' (Father of the Puerto Rican Nation)

Seeds for revolt in Puerto Rico

Organizer of the Grito de Lares

The Ten Commandments of Free Men

The ''Grito'' and its aftermath

In New York

In Hispaniola

Diplomatic and revolutionary activities

Diplomat for the Dominican Republic

Support for Cuba's independence and José Maceo's freedom

Betances and Máximo Gómez

Betances and José Martí

Betances and Tomás Estrada Palma

The ''Intentona de Yauco''

Morales Plan

The Cánovas Affair

Legion of Honor award

Efforts to counter the U.S. annexation of Puerto Rico

Death

Legacy

Complete Works

Landmarks

In the United States

In Puerto Rico

Political and sociological

In Puerto Rico

In the Greater Antilles

Medical

Literary

Major works

See also

References

Primary sources

Secondary sources

External links