Santiago Iglesias Pantín (February 22, 1872 – December 5, 1939), was a Spanish-born Puerto Rican socialist and trade union activist. Iglesias is best remembered as a leading supporter of statehood for Puerto Rico, and as the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the U.S. Congress from 1933 to 1939.

Biography

Early years

Santiago Iglesias was born in

A Coruña A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...

, Galicia,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, where he attended the common schools, and was apprenticed as a

cabinet maker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (solid ...

. At a young age, he stowed away on a ship that landed 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 ...

. There, he organized workers and, beginning in 1889, was secretary of the Workingmen Trades Circle 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.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 ...

, and was the founder and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

of three

labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

papers: * ''Porvenir Social'' (from 1898 to 1900) * ''Union Obrera'' (from 1903 to 1906) * ''Justicia'' (from 1914 to 1925) He was a very active labor organizer in Puerto Rico and was often arrested and jailed for his activities. He was considered

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...

(AFL) president

Samuel Gompers Samuel Gompers (; January 27, 1850December 11, 1924) was a British-born American cigar maker, labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and served as the organization's ...

's ally on the island. In fact, Gompers appointed him general organizer of the

for the districts of Puerto Rico and Cuba in 1901. In 1915, he founded the Puerto Rico's

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

, a pro-alliance, pro-labor party (not to be confused with the avowedly Marxist and pro-independence

Puerto Rican Socialist Party The Puerto Rican Socialist Party (, PSPR) was a Marxist and pro-independence political party in Puerto Rico seeking the end of United States of America control on the Hispanic and Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. It proposed a "democratic worke ...

founded in the 1970s). His Socialist Party, unlike its namesake, did elect its candidates to elective office during many elections. He also served as secretary of the Pan-American Federation of Labor from 1925 to 1933. In 1936, he was wounded during an assassination attempt by

Puerto Rican Nationalist Party The Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico (, PNPR) was a Puerto Rican political party founded on September 17, 1922, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its primary goal was to work for Puerto Rico's independence. The Party's selection in 1930 of Pedro Alb ...

partisans. After losing a race in 1908 against

Tulio Larrínaga Tulio Larrínaga (January 15, 1847 – April 28, 1917) was a Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico. Biography Born in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, Larrínaga attended the Seminario Consiliar of San Ildefonso at San Juan, Puerto Rico. He studied ...

for Puerto Rico's non-voting delegate seat in 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, ...

, Iglesias was elected as a Coalitionist

Resident Commissioner Resident commissioner was or is an official title of several different types of commissioners, who were or are representatives of any level of government. Historically, they were appointed by the British Crown in overseas protectorates (such a ...

on November 8, 1932, and was reelected in 1936 for the term ending January 3, 1941. He served in the 73rd, 74th, 75th, and 76th Congresses, from March 4, 1933, until his death.

Member of the Senate of Puerto Rico

Iglesias served as a member of the first Senate of Puerto Rico in 1917, and reelected several times, until his election to Congress in 1932. He pushed for many social reforms, many of which did become law, either as part of the

PDP PDP may refer to: Computing and technology * Packet Data Protocol in wireless GPRS/HSDPA networks * Parallel distributed processing in Connectionism#Parallel distributed processing, connectionism * Plasma display panel * Policy Decision Point in t ...

's reform agenda in the 1940s or as part of the Constitution of Puerto Rico in 1952.

Resident Commissioner in the U.S. House of Representatives

Iglesias unsuccessfully pushed for legislation to enable Puerto Ricans to elect their own Governor, a concept that did not become law until 1947. He was able to have Puerto Rico included in many

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

assistance programs, including road construction, the Bankhead-Jones Act that enabled agricultural experimentation, the fight against

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

and the Jones Act exclusion regarding the taxation of shipping between Puerto Rico and other U.S. ports. In Congress, he served on the Insular Affairs, Agriculture, and Labor committees.

Personal life

Married to Justa Pastora Bocanegra in 1902, he had eight daughters whose names were inspired by his political ideals, named Josefina Victoria, Libertad, Fraternidad,

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Igualdad, Justicia, Laura Paz, Luz, and three sons, including career military officer Edward Iglesias; Manuel Francisco Iglesias, distinguished Air Force Captain and Lead Crew Radar Office of the B-29s during World War II; and Santiago Angel.

Death and legacy

Iglesias died in office in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, on December 5, 1939, and his body was returned home to Puerto Rico, where it lay in state at the Capitol. Some 200,000 people were said to have filed past the casket and 50,000 are said to have gridlocked the streets of Old San Juan during his funeral. Iglesias's body was interred in a tomb at Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery 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 ...

. Early in 1943, a

Liberty Ship Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...

was named for him. Several of Iglesias's descendants have started a nonprofit charitable foundation to preserve and promote his legacy. The foundation is called the "Iglesias Family Foundation."

References

External links

*
Memorial Services held in the House of Representatives of the United States, together with remarks presented in eulogy of Santiago Iglesias late a resident commissioner from Puerto Rico frontispiece 1941
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iglesias, Santiago 1872 births 1939 deaths Burials at Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Puerto Rico Members of the Senate of Puerto Rico People from A Coruña Puerto Rican people of Galician descent Resident commissioners of Puerto Rico Socialist Party (Puerto Rico) politicians Spanish emigrants to Puerto Rico 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico