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Inés María Mendoza Rivera de Muñoz Marín (January 10, 1908 in
Naguabo, Puerto Rico Naguabo (, ) is a town and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the east coast of the island bordered by the Vieques Passage, north of Humacao; south of Río Grande and Ceiba; and east of Las Piedras. Naguabo is spread over 8 barrios and N ...
– August 13, 1990 in
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...
), was a former First Lady of Puerto Rico, teacher, writer and socialite. She was the second wife of Governor Luis Muñoz Marín. Inés Mendoza stood by the Spanish language, defying the new colonial authorities that wanted to replace it with English.


Biography

Mendoza was an accomplished student in her native Naguabo. She graduated in 1927 Magna Laude from the Normal course at the School of Pedagogy of the
University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...
and in 1931, she received a Bachelor of Science degree from
Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC) is the graduate school of education affiliated with Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, Teachers College has been a part of Columbia University since ...
in New York, where she specialized in school supervision. She was married to painter Rafael Palacios from 1931 to 1935 and during this marriage they had two children: ''Carmen Palacios Mendoza'' and ''Rafael Palacios Mendoza''. She returned to Puerto Rico to begin her career as a teacher, writer and newspaper columnist. In 1935, she would meet Muñoz Marín during one of his campaign stops in Naguabo. Although he was married to American writer Muna Lee, Muñoz Marín would move in with her a few years afterwards. They were married on November 16, 1946, a day after his divorce from Muna Lee was finalized. Their marriage produced two daughters, ''Viviana Muñoz Mendoza'' and ''
Victoria Muñoz Mendoza Victoria "Melo" Muñoz Mendoza (born December 24, 1940) is a former politician from Puerto Rico. She is the daughter of the first democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Muñoz Marín, founder of the Popular Democratic Party and hi ...
.'' In 1948,President Truman: Letter to Governor Pinero of Puerto Rico Upon Signing Bill Providing for an Elected Governor http://www.trumanlibrary.org/publicpapers/index.php?pid=1921&st=Puerto+Rico&st1= Luis Muñoz Marín was elected Governor of Puerto Rico. Mendoza lived at "
La Fortaleza La Fortaleza ( English: "the fortress"), also known as the ''Palacio de Santa Catalina'' (Saint Catherine's Palace), is the official residence and workplace of the governor of Puerto Rico. Located in the historic quarter of Old San Juan in the ...
", the Governor's mansion, for sixteen years. As First Lady, she showed interest in Puerto Rico's
ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...
and public education system. After her husband retired as governor in January 1965, she returned to private life. Luis Muñoz Marín died on April 30, 1980. ''Doña Inés'', as she was known to close friends and family, died a decade after his death on August 13, 1990 at Auxilio Mutuo Hospital in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. A few years after her death, Mendoza's daughter, Victoria, attempted an unsuccessful campaign as the candidate for the Popular Democratic Party candidate for the island's governorship. She was defeated by Pedro Rosselló, the candidate for the New Progressive Party. Had she been elected, she would have become the island's first female governor. That honor would later go to Sila María Calderón when she was elected as the island's first female governor in 2001. The Inés Mendoza high school in Cabo Rojo,
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
, is named in her honor as well as the junior high school in
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...
's rural barrio of Caimito and an elementary school in Yauco. As a teacher, Inés Mendoza defied the U.S.A. imposition of English and ban on Spanish language in Puerto Rico, teaching in Spanish. Her defiance got such a strong popular support that the imposition of English was abolished, as reminded by former governor of Puerto Rico, Alejandro García Padilla. http://economia.elpais.com/economia/2014/06/13/actualidad/1402670785_164869.html


See also

*
List of Puerto Ricans This is a list of notable people from Puerto Rico which includes people who were born in Puerto Rico (Borinquen) and people who are of full or partial Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican descent. Puerto Rican citizens are included, as the governm ...


References


External links

*
Official Biography from the ''Luis Muñoz Marín Foundation'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendoza, Ines 1908 births 1990 deaths First ladies and gentlemen of Puerto Rico People from Naguabo, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent Puerto Rican Roman Catholics Teachers College, Columbia University alumni University of Puerto Rico alumni