Don Luis Alberto Ferré Aguayo (February 17, 1904 October 21, 2003) was a Puerto Rican engineer,

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

, politician, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. He was the

governor of Puerto Rico The governor of Puerto Rico () is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. Elected to a 4 year-term through popular vote by the residents of the archipelago and island, ...

from 1969 to 1973. He was the founder of the New Progressive Party, which advocates for

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 ...

to become a state of the United States of America. He is a recipient of the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...

Early life

Luis Alberto Ferré Aguayo was born in the southern city of

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

on February 17, 1904. Ferré's grandfather Maurice Ferré Perotín was a French engineer who was involved in the construction of the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

before settling in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. Ferré's father, Antonio Ferré Bagayado or "Bacallao", was born in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Memoir
By Rosario Ferré As a young man he immigrated to Puerto Rico, where he founded the company Puerto Rico Iron Works, in Barrio Playa de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico, Antonio Ferré met and married María Aguayo Casals, a cousin of both Catalan cellist

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

was a Puerto Rico-born Catalan musician) and Carmelita Defilló Sanz (wife to Dominican politician and historian Manuel Arturo Peña Batlle and mother of Dominican paintist Fernando Peña Defilló). Antonio and María had four sons, Luis,

José José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced ...

, Carlos and Hermán Ferré, and two daughters, Rosario and Isolina; the latter would become a nun of international prominence. Ferré studied

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, obtaining his bachelor's degree in 1924 and master's degree in 1925, and music at the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

. While at MIT he was part of the Army ROTC. While living in Boston, Ferré developed an admiration for the "American way of democracy".

Industrialist

Upon his return to

, Ferré helped transform his father's company into a successful business from which he earned a fortune. In 1948, he acquired '' El Día,'' a fledgling newspaper that was later renamed ''El Nuevo Día,'' which became the newspaper with the largest circulation in Puerto Rico at the time. In the 1950s, Ferré's ''Empresas Ferré'' (Ferre Enterprises) acquired Puerto Rico Cement and Ponce Cement, which capitalized on the economic boom which Puerto Rico enjoyed based on the ambitious industrialization projects undertaken in association with the Operation Bootstrap. Ferré's brother, José, had moved to Miami with his family. His son Maurice expanded a successful business there, selling bagged pre-mixed cement and sand under the name Mezcla Lista. Maurice Ferré was elected Mayor of Miami.

Political life

Ferré became active in politics in the 1940s. He unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Ponce in 1940 and Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in 1948.

Representative

In 1948, Puerto Ricans were allowed to elect their governor; previously the position was filled by appointment by the United States president. Luis Muñoz Marín was elected governor of Puerto Rico. A movement began which aimed to adopt a

commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

relationship with the United States of America. In 1951, a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

was held to decide whether to approve or not the option granted by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

to draft Puerto Rico's first constitution. Ferré abstained from participating in the process; the pro-statehood party to which he belonged favored the 1951

. He believed that the process would mean "an acceptance of a colony and condemn the people to a perpetual condition of second class citizenship". Ferré later participated in the constitutional assembly created by the

, which drafted the constitution. In 1952 the

Constitution of Puerto Rico The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico () is the primary organizing law for the unincorporated U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, describing the duties, powers, structures and functions of the government of Puerto Rico in nine art ...

was adopted, renaming the body politic of the territory of Puerto Rico as the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

. Ferré was elected as a member of the

Constitutional Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

. That same year Ferré was elected representative in the

House of Representatives. He ran under the Republican Statehood Party ("Partido Estadista Republicano") and officially assumed his duties as representative on January 11, 1953.

Governor and Senator

On July 23, 1967, a

plebiscite A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or adv ...

was held to decide if the people of

desired to become an independent nation, a state of the United States of America, or continue the

relation established in 1952. The majority of

Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans (), most commonly known as Puerto Rico#Etymology, Boricuas, but also occasionally referred to as '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borinqueños'', '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borincan ...

opted for the

option (see Puerto Rican status referendums). Disagreement within the then pro-statehood party headed by Miguel A. García Méndez led Ferré and others to found the New Progressive Party (a.k.a., PNP). In the following general election in 1968, Ferré ran for

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

and defeated Luis Negrón López, the candidate of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) by a slight margin. The ruling party had split with the creation of the People's Party, which ran incumbent PDP-elected Governor Roberto Sánchez Vilella as its gubernatorial candidate, ending Luis Muñoz Marín's PPD's hold on the governor's seat, which had lasted 20 years. During Ferré's administration, Puerto Rico was in an economic boom at 7% GDP growth and the unemployment at 10%. His work as governor of Puerto Rico included defending the federal minimum wage and granting workers a Christmas bonus. He visited Puerto Rican troops in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. In 1970, his first wife, Lorencita, died at La Fortaleza after being bed-ridden for years. Their daughter,

Rosario Ferré Rosario Ferré Ramírez de Arellano (September 28, 1938 – February 18, 2016) was a Puerto Rican writer, poet, and essayist.

, an acclaimed novelist and writer, stepped into the role of First Lady. During his governorship, he paid special attention to youth affairs and bringing young Puerto Ricans into public service. He successfully had the Puerto Rico Constitution amended to lower the voting age to 18, strongly supported the New Progressive Party Youth organization as party president, appointed then-young statehooders such as Antonio Quiñones Calderón and Francisco "Pompi" González to high-level administration jobs, campaigned for a 26-year-old at large House candidate, nominated a future Senate President and Secretary of State, teenager

Kenneth McClintock Kenneth Davison McClintock-Hernández (born January 19, 1957) is a politician who served as the twenty-second Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, one of the four longest serving in that post. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s N ...

as Puerto Rico delegate to the 1971 White House Conference on Youth, and strengthened college scholarship programs. Before the Congress created the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

in 1971, Ferré had already created Puerto Rico's Environmental Quality Board in 1970, charged with protecting the islands' environment. In the elections of 1972 he sought reelection but lost to

Rafael Hernández Colón Rafael Hernández Colón (October 24, 1936 – May 2, 2019) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1973 to 1977 and 1985 to 1993 for a total of three terms. An experienced politician, Hernández held the ...

of the PPD. The PPD had claimed that many corruption scandals had been overlooked by the Ferré administration. A bloody student strike at the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras in 1971 had been neutralized by the Puerto Rican police using brute force, something about which Ferré had mixed feelings. Hernández emphasized his youth during the campaign, and became the youngest Puerto Rican governor upon election. All these issues, along with the reunification of the People's Party and the PPD, contributed to a PPD win over Ferré in the election. Ferré remained active in politics and in 1976, he was elected to the Senate of Puerto Rico. Ferré served as the eighth president of the Senate from 1977 to 1981 and continued serving as senator until 1985. Years after leaving La Fortaleza, he married Tiody De Jesús, a nurse who later became a physician. After serving as senator, Ferré continued to be active in politics, especially representing the

United States Republican Party The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is a Right-wing politics, right-wing political parties in the United States, political party in the United States. One of the Two-party system, two major parties, it emerged as t ...

on the island. Between 1989 and 1991, Ferré served with former Governor

Carlos Romero Barceló Carlos Antonio Romero Barceló (September 4, 1932 – May 2, 2021) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1977 to 1985. He was the second governor to be elected from the New Progressive Party (PNP). He als ...

, former representative Benny Frankie Cerezo, PNP leader

and former congressional staffer David Gerken as the New Progressive Party's negotiating team while Congress considered Puerto Rico political status legislation introduced by Senator J. Bennett Johnston.

Renaissance man

Ferré was also a talented pianist who recorded several albums of his piano music. On January 3, 1959 he founded the

Museo de Arte de Ponce Museo de Arte de Ponce (MAP) is an art museum located on Avenida Las Américas in Ponce, Puerto Rico.Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico Tourism Company. Ven al Sur, page 20. San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2003. It houses a collection of Art of Eur ...

, in his hometown of Ponce. The museum initially displayed 71 paintings from his personal collection and today displays over 3,000 pieces. Among other things, Ferré is credited with having rescued from oblivion the painting ''

Flaming June ''Flaming June'' is a painting by Sir Frederic Leighton, produced in 1895. Painted with oil paints on a square canvas, it depicts a sleeping woman in a sensuous version of his classicist Academic art, Academic style. It is Leighton's most reco ...

'' by the Victorian painter Frederic Lord Leighton – purchasing it in 1963, when it was considered "too old fashioned" and getting it prominently displayed at the Museo of Arte de Ponce. , the center for performing arts in

Santurce, Puerto Rico Santurce (, meaning Saint George from Basque language, Basque ''Santurtzi'') is the largest and most populated Barrios of San Juan, Puerto Rico, barrio of the Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, the cap ...

also bears his name, as well as the main highway connecting San Juan and Ponce. He also assisted in the creation of the Casals Festival and the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. He was a member of Phi Sigma Alpha fraternity. As a sportsman, Ferré practiced fencing, and is honored annually with the "Campeonato Nacional de Esgrima" in Puerto Rico. His philanthropic deeds and defense for democracy earned him the

, awarded by President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

on November 18, 1991.

Death and legacy

On September 29, 2003, Ferré was hospitalized with a

urinary tract infection A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection that affects a part of the urinary tract. Lower urinary tract infections may involve the bladder (cystitis) or urethra (urethritis) while upper urinary tract infections affect the kidney (pyel ...

and underwent surgery for an intestinal blockage on October 1. While in the hospital, he developed

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

before finally succumbing to

respiratory failure Respiratory failure results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, meaning that the arterial oxygen, carbon dioxide, or both cannot be kept at normal levels. A drop in the oxygen carried in the blood is known as hypoxemia; a r ...

on the morning of October 21, 2003. He was 99 years old. His body lay in state in Puerto Rico's capitol building in San Juan, then transported to his museum in Ponce, before being taken for a state funeral and burial in that city. His funeral and ceremonies honoring him were attended by numerous politicians. He is interred at the Las Mercedes Memorial Park in Ponce. February 22, 2011. El Sur a la Vista. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Retrieved March 31, 2011. Among the awards that were bestowed on Luis A. Ferré was the

, an honor which was also subsequently bestowed on his sister Sor Isolina Ferre. The sculptor

Tomás Batista Tomás Batista (born December 7, 1935) is a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican sculptor. He is the creator of some of Puerto Rico's most notable monuments. Early years Batista (birth name: Tomás Batista Encarnación) was born and raised in Luquillo, ...

was also commissioned to make a bust of Ferré, which is exhibited in the Ponce Museum of Art. Another

bust of him was unveiled by his widow, Tiody, Senate President

and Senate Vice President Orlando Parga in February, 2008 at the Senate of Puerto Rico's Hall of Governors. In 2004 the historic United States Courthouse and Post Office Building in Ponce, Puerto Rico was named the Luis A. Ferré United States Courthouse and Post Office Building by an Act of the U.S. Congress. The segment of Las Américas Avenue that includes the

and the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico was renamed the ''Luis A. Ferré Boulevard'' in November, 2010, in his honor.

References

External links

White House Statement on Don Luis Ferre

Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferre (Luis A. Ferre Center for the Performing Arts)

Museo de Arte de Ponce (Ponce Art Museum)
, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferre, Luis A. 1904 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American philanthropists Deaths from respiratory failure Governors of Puerto Rico Industrialists from Ponce Infectious disease deaths in Puerto Rico MIT School of Engineering alumni New Progressive Party members of the Senate of Puerto Rico New England Conservatory alumni New Progressive Party members of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico Philanthropists from Ponce Politicians from Ponce Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Presidents of the New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico) Presidents of the Senate of Puerto Rico 20th-century Puerto Rican businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century Puerto Rican engineers 20th-century American engineers Puerto Rican party leaders Puerto Rican people of Catalan descent Republican Party (Puerto Rico) politicians Republican Party governors of Puerto Rico Statehood movement in Puerto Rico Burials at Cementerio Las Mercedes Puerto Rican mass media owners 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico