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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" section


Early years

Coll y Cuchí was born in
Arecibo Arecibo (; ) is a Arecibo barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado, Puerto Rico, Utuado and Ciales, Puerto Rico, Ciale ...
,
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 ...
. His father was
Cayetano Coll y Toste Dr. Cayetano Coll y Toste (November 30, 1850 – November 19, 1930), was a Puerto Rican historian and writer, who served as Official Historian of Puerto Rico from 1913 until his death in 1930. He was the founder and editor of the fourteen volum ...
, a historian who in 1913 was named the "Official Historian of Puerto Rico" and his mother Adela, was the daughter of José Cuchí y Arnau former mayor of Arecibo. His family sent him to private schools for his primary and secondary education. El Nuevo Dia
In 1896, Coll y Cuchí's family sent him to Spain where he earned his degree in law from the
University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...
. During his stay in Spain, he became interested in politics and became involved with the Puerto Rico's independence movement. When Coll y Cuchí returned to Puerto Rico, he found himself with a totally different political situation. The island, which once belonged to the Spanish Crown, was now a territory of the United States. This came about as part of the Treaty of Paris as a consequence of the outcome of the
Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...
.


Politician

In 1904, he joined the Puerto Rican Republican Party and was elected to the Puerto Rican Chamber of Delegates. Believing that Puerto Rico's identity as a nation was threatened by the Foraker Law, he decided to join the Puerto Rican Union Party headed by Antonio R. Barceló and was re-elected to the Chamber of Delegates in 1908. As member of the Chamber, he led the fight against the Foraker Law, also known as the Organic Act of 1900, which established a civilian government in the island. The new government had an American governor and executive council appointed by the President of the United States. By 1919, Coll y Cuchí felt that the Union Party wasn't doing enough for the cause of Puerto Rico and together with some followers departed from the party and formed the Nationalist Association of Puerto Rico 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 ...
. By the 1920s there were two other pro-independence organizations in the Island: the Nationalist Youth and the Independence Association. The Independence Association was founded by José S. Alegría, Eugenio Font Suárez and Dr. Leopoldo Figueroa in 1920. Under Coll y Cuchi's presidency, the party was able to convince the Puerto Rican Legislature Assembly to approve an act that would permit the transfer of the mortal remains of Puerto Rican patriot
Ramón Emeterio Betances Ramón Emeterio Betances y Alacán (April 8, 1827 – September 16, 1898) was a Puerto Rican independence leader, abolitionist and medical doctor. He led the nations independence movement and was the primary instigator of the ''Grito de Lares' ...
from Paris, France, to Puerto Rico. Betances' remains arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on August 5, 1920, and a funeral caravan organized by the Nationalist Association transferred the remains from the capital to the town of Cabo Rojo where his ashes were interred by his monument.


Founding of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party

On September 17, 1922, the three political organizations joined forces and formed the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. Coll y Cuchí was elected president, José S. Alegría (father of Ricardo Alegría) vice-president and Antonio Vélez Alvarado "The Father of the Puerto Rican Flag" to the party's Supreme Counsel. In 1924 Dr.
Pedro Albizu Campos Pedro Albizu Campos (June 29, 1893Luis Fortuño Janeiro. ''Album Histórico de Ponce (1692–1963).'' p. 290. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta Fortuño. 1963. – April 21, 1965) was a Puerto Rican attorney and politician, and a leading figure in ...
joined the party and was named vice-president. In 1927, Coll y Cuchí was invited to Columbia University to give a conference. At that conference the governor of New York
Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was the 42nd governor of New York, serving from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1923 to 1928. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's presidential nominee in the 1 ...
was present and congratulated Coll y Cuchí. When Smith ran for President of the U.S. in 1928, under the democratic ticket, he invited Coll y Cuchí to come to the U.S. and campaign for him among the
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
communities, which he did. The Nationalist Party did poorly in the 1928 elections, they only received 399 votes out of a total of 253,520 votes.Luis Muñoz Marín, By A. W. Maldonado, Pg. 86, Publisher: La Editorial, Universidad de Puerto Rico, (December 1, 2006), , Despite the fact that he was a leader in the independence movement, Coll y Cuchí displayed respect and admiration towards the Americans. Albizu Campos did not like what he considered was Coll y Cuchí's attitude of fraternal solidarity with the enemy. By 1930, there were more disagreements between Coll y Cuchí and Albizu Campos as to how the party should be run. As a result, Coll y Cuchí abandoned the party and some of his followers returned to the Union Party. On May 11, 1930, Albizu Campos was elected president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. In 1931, when President
Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...
visited Puerto Rico, Coll y Cuchí urged the islanders to greet him with a warm welcome.


Notable family members

Coll y Cuchí came from a family of Puerto Rican educators, politicians and writers. His father Dr.
Cayetano Coll y Toste Dr. Cayetano Coll y Toste (November 30, 1850 – November 19, 1930), was a Puerto Rican historian and writer, who served as Official Historian of Puerto Rico from 1913 until his death in 1930. He was the founder and editor of the fourteen volum ...
(1850–1930), was a historian and writer.Biografías – Cayetano Coll y Toste
at www.zonai.com Nuevo Dia]
His brother
Cayetano Coll y Cuchí Cayetano Coll y Cuchí (June 21, 1881 – 1961) was a politician, writer and an advocate of Puerto Rican Independence. In 1917, he became the first President of Puerto Rico House of Representatives after the island was ceded to the United States ...
, was a President of
Puerto Rico House of Representatives The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico () is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the bicameral territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The House, together with the Senate, control the legislative branch of the go ...
. His niece
Edna Coll Edna Coll Pujals (July 24, 1906 – November 19, 2002) was a Puerto Rican educator and author. She was president of the Society of Puerto Rican Authors in San Juan. Coll was also the founder of the Academy of Fine Arts in Puerto Rico."Figuras H ...
was an educator and author who founded the Academy of Fine Arts in Puerto Rico and his niece Tras las Huellas de Nuestro Paso"; by: Ildelfonso López; Publisher: AEELA, 1998 and his niece Isabel Cuchí Coll, another niece, was a journalist, author and the Director of the "Sociedad de Autores Puertorriqueños" (Society of Puerto Rican Authors). His nephew (Edna's son) Fufi Santori">Jose "Fufi" Santori Coll is a former BSN basketball player, coach and television sportscaster."NACIONALIDAD Y CIUDADANÍA"; El Nuevo Dia
His grandson, attorney at law Eduardo Morales Coll, was President of the Puerto Rican Atheneum for 30 consecutive years, also President of the Institute of Puerto Rican Literature for 20 consecutive years, is an Academic of the Puerto Rican Academy of the Spanish language, also an Academic of the Puerto Rican Academy of Arts and Sciences, among other cultural institutions.


Later years

Coll y Cuchí was director of Puerto Rican Athaeneum's Political Sciences Section. He is the only Puerto Rican to have received the Medal of Honor from Spain's "Royal Academy of the Spanish Language" for the best book published during a five-year span. Coll y Cuchí never abandoned his pro-independence ideals and continued to be active in the independence cause. José Coll y Cuchí died in Santurce, Puerto Rico on July 2, 1960.


Written works

Among his written works are the following: * The Secular Issues of the Jewish People * America's Doctrine * Nationalism in Puerto Rico (1923)


See also

*List of Puerto Ricans * Puerto Rican Nationalist Party *
Ponce massacre The Ponce massacre was an event that took place on Palm Sunday, March 21, 1937, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, when a peaceful civilian Marching, march turned into a police shooting in which 17 civilians and two policemen were killed, and more than 200 ...
* Río Piedras massacre * Utuado uprising * Truman assassination attempt *
Puerto Rican Independence Party The Puerto Rican Independence Party (, PIP) is a social-democratic political party in Puerto Rico that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from the United States. Those who follow the PIP ideology are usually called ''independentist ...
*
History of Puerto Rico The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the Ortoiroid people before 430 BC. At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1493, the dominant indigenous culture was that of the Taíno. The Taíno people's num ...


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coll Y Cuchi, Jose 1877 births 1960 deaths People from Arecibo, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican people of Catalan descent Puerto Rican independence activists Puerto Rican Nationalist Party politicians Puerto Rican non-fiction writers Puerto Rican people of Irish descent University of Barcelona alumni