José Julián Acosta (February 16, 1825 – August 26, 1891), was a journalist and an advocate of the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

in Puerto Rico.

Early years

José Julián Acosta Calbo was born in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

to Francisco de Acosta y Sandoval and Juana Antonia Calbo y Garriga. There he received his primary education. He was one of Rafael Cordero's most notable students. Cordero was an inspiration to Acosta and the influence of his teachings remained with Acosta for the rest of his life. Later, he became a protégé of Father Rufo Manuel Fernández, who would send him to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain to study Physics and Mathematics. After he graduated in 1851, Acosta continued to expand his educational knowledge in Paris, London, and Berlin. In Berlin, he was a student of the naturalist

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...

.Enciclopedia Puerto Rico

When Acosta returned to Puerto Rico, he took a job as a professor of

Botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and Maritime Sciences and became the director of the Civil Institute of Secondary Education. Acosta was the founder and editor of the newspaper ''

El Progreso El Progreso () is a city, with a population of 120,600 (2023 calculation), and a municipality located in the Honduran Departments of Honduras, department of Yoro (department), Yoro. Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport of San Pedro Su ...

'' (''Progress''), and he collaborated with many other newspapers which were oriented toward

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

Abolitionist

Between 1865 and 1867, Acosta was a member of a Puerto Rican commission, which included Segundo Ruiz Belvis and Francisco Mariano Quiñones, and which participated in the ''Junta Informativa de Reformas de Ultramar'' (Overseas Reforms Informative Board) which met in Madrid. Here, Acosta presented the argument for the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico. That same year, whilst in Madrid, Acosta was made a member of the Spanish Royal Academy of History, for his work in the editing of Fray Iñigo Abbad y Lasierra's ''Historia geografica, civil y natural de la isla de San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico''. (''Geographic, Civil, and Natural History of the Island of St. John the Baptist of Puerto Rico'') Upon returning to the Island, Acosta, like many other Puerto Ricans with liberal views, was harshly mistreated by the Spanish governor. After the Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares) revolt in 1868, he was suspected of being a conspirator and was imprisoned in the dungeons of

Fort San Felipe del Morro Castillo San Felipe del Morro ( English: Promontory Castle of Saint Philip), most commonly known as ''El Morro'' (The Promontory), is a large fortress and citadel in the Old San Juan historic quarter of San Juan, the capital municipality of Pue ...

by General Pavia, even though he had not participated in the failed revolt. Acosta later published a pamphlet entitled ("Hours of Imprisonment") describing his experiences in prison.

Political career

Acosta became a member of the Liberal Reformist Party and in 1870, he founded the political newspaper ''El Progreso''. In 1871 he became an elected representative to the Spanish Courts. In 1873, he became president of the Liberal Reformist Party, but decided to leave the party in 1874, and joined the Autonomist Party formed by

Román Baldorioty de Castro Román Baldorioty de Castro (23 February 1822 – 30 September 1889) was a leading Puerto Rican Abolitionism, abolitionist and spokesman for the right to self-determination of Puerto Rico. In 1870, he was elected as a deputy in the Cortes Ge ...

Legacy

On March 22, 1873, Acosta witnessed the success of his abolitionist efforts, with the proclamation of the decree for the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico. Acosta died on August 26, 1891, in

. He was interred in Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in

Old San Juan Old San Juan () is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the San Juan Islet, islet of San Juan in San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Old San Juan, Ballajá, Catedral, Old San Juan, ...

. His great-grandson was Colonel Gilberto José Marxuach, the "Father of the San Juan Civil Defense".

Notes

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