Luis Llorens Torres^{[note 1]} (May 14, 1876 - June 16, 1944), was a Puerto Rican poet, playwright, and politician. He was an advocate for the independence of Puerto Rico.

Early years[link]

Llorens Torres was born in Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico, his parents, Luis Aurelio del Carmen Llorens and Marcelina Soledad de Torres, were the wealthy owners of a coffee plantation. In Collores (a section of Juana Diaz), Llorens Torres was always in contact with nature, which accounts for the love that he felt for nature and country. Llorens Torres always stated that he was proud to come from "Collores". His Catalan grandfather, Josep de Llorens i Robles, had immigrated from the village of Llorens, which belongs to the town of El Vendrell in Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain).^[1]

He went to school in Mayagüez and Maricao. Llorens Torres went to Spain after he finished his secondary studies on the island. He studied at the University of Barcelona and became a lawyer. He then proceeded to study Philosophy and Letters at the University of Granada where he obtained a Doctorate degree in both disciplines. In Spain he published his first book of poetic verses "Al Pie de la Alhambra", which was dedicated to his girlfriend, Carmen Rivero.^[2]

Political career[link]

He returned to Puerto Rico in 1901, married, and moved to Ponce where he established his own law firm (Nemesio Canales later joined his firm) and collaborated with the newspaper Lienzos del Solar. During this time he wrote some of his best works.^[2]

When Llorens Torres returned to Puerto Rico he found a political situation completely different than from the one that he had left. Puerto Rico had been invaded by the United States during the Puerto Rico Campaign of the Spanish American War in 1898. This motivated Llorens Torres to join the political Union Party which defended the ideal of independence for the island. He transmitted his beliefs to the public through his poem "El Patito Feo" (The Ugly Duckling). He became a member of the legislature when he was named to the Camara of Delegates from 1908 to 1910 representing the municipality of Ponce. On February 8, 1912, together with Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón and Manuel Zeno Gandía, he wrote a manisfesto which stated that it was time for Puerto Rico to have its independence. That year Llorens Torres, Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón, Manuel Zeno Gandía, Eugenio Benítez Castaño, and Pedro Franceschi founded the Independence party which was the first party in the history of the island to exclusively want Puerto Rican independence. Eugenio Benítez Castaño was named president of the short lived political party. In 1913, Llorens Torres co-founded with Nemesio Canales La Revista de Las Antillas, a literary publication. Llorens Torres died in Santurce, a sector of San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was a defender of the independence ideal until the day that he died.^[1]

Legacy[link]

The Government of Puerto Rico has honored the memory of Luis Llorens Torres by naming a public housing project in Santurce after him. Among the other things that were named after him are an avenue in San Juan, a high school in Juana Diaz, and a children's academy in New York City. There is a bust of him in front of the high school named after him and there is a statue of Luis Llorens Torres, sculpted by the Puerto Rican sculptor Tomás Batista, in the "Plazita Famosa" of Juana Diaz.^[1]

Note[link]

1. ^
   This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Llorens and the second or maternal family name is Torres.

See also[link]

	Puerto Rico portal
	Literature portal
	Biography portal

• List of Puerto Rican writers
• List of notable Puerto Ricans
• Puerto Rican literature

References[link]

External links[link]

• El Nuevo Dia

José de Diego y Martínez (April 16, 1866 – July 16, 1918), known as "The Father of the Puerto Rican Independence Movement", was a statesman, journalist, poet, lawyer, and advocate for Puerto Rico's independence from Spain and from the United States.

Early years[link]

De Diego, son of Felipe de Diego Parajón a Spanish army officer from Asturias, Spain and Elisa Martínez Muñiz a Criollo from Puerto Rico, was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico and received his primary education in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.^[1] He then moved to Spain where he graduated from the "Polytechnic College of Logroño". While in Spain, de Diego collaborated with the newspaper El Progreso (Progress) which was founded by José Julián Acosta and which attacked the political situation in Puerto Rico. This led to various arrests and eventually he returned to the island.^[2]

Poetry[link]

In 1886, de Diego had an unhappy love affair, with Carmen Echavarría, which led him to write one of his acclaimed poems "A Laura" (To Laura). This poem became very popular among the romantics of that time. He became known as the "Father" of the "Modern Puerto Rican Poetry Movement". Among his most noted poetry books are ^[2]:

• Pomarrosas
• Jovillos
• Cantos de Rebeldía
• Cantos del Pitirre

Confederation of the Spanish-speaking islands in the Caribbean[link]

De Diego returned to Spain and studied law in Barcelona. He received his law degree and continued his studies until he graduated with a doctorate in law in 1892. He then returned to Puerto Rico to advocate for its autonomy from Spain.^[3] De Diego set up his law practice in Arecibo and was the founder of the newspaper La República (The Republic). Together with Román Baldorioty de Castro, Diego founded the "Autonomist Party" in 1887. Luis Muñoz Rivera and Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón, who were members of the party, formed a committee which ultimately convinced the Spanish representative in the island Práxedes Mateo Sagasta to support the idea of autonomy for Puerto Rico. De Diego did not accompany Muñoz Rivera and Matienzo Cintrón, because he believed that Spain should be a Federal Republic and Mateo Sagasta's party followed the ideals of the monarchy. De Diego envisioned the establishment of a Confederation of the Spanish-speaking islands in the Caribbean which would include Dominican Republic and Cuba, known as the Antillean Confederation. In 1897, Spain acknowledged Puerto Rico's autonomy, after Mateo Sagasta's victory in Spain. De Diego celebrated Muñoz Rivera's accomplishment and was named Sub-Secretary of Justice and Government. Puerto Rico's autonomy, however was short-lived.^[2]

Politician[link]

After the United States invasion of Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War, the Treaty of Paris (1898) committed Spain to ceding Puerto Rico to the United States as a war bounty.

On June 5, 1900, President William McKinley named de Diego, together with Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón, José Celso Barbosa, Manuel Camuñas, and Andrés Crosas to an Executive Cabinet under U.S.-appointed Governor Charles H. Allen. The Executive Cabinet also included six American members.^[4] De Diego resigned from the position in order to pursue the island's right to govern itself. In 1904, he co-founded the "Unionist Party" along with Luis Muñoz Rivera, Eduardo Georgetti, Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón and Antonio R. Barceló.^[3]

De Diego was then elected to the House of Delegates, the only locally elected body of government allowed by the U.S., and which De Diego presided from 1904 to 1917. The House of Delegates was subject to the U.S. President's veto power and voted for the island's right to independence and self-government and against the imposition of U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans, among other resolutions passed. None of these requests were honored by newly developing US hemispheric expansionism. In 1914, Barceló, Muñoz Rivera and de Diego were members of an executive council that attempted to form an alliance between the Union and Republican Parties. In 1917, after Luis Muñoz Rivera died, Barceló became the leading force behind the liberal ideas of the island. Barceló and De Diego were against the creation of the Jones-Shafroth Act which would impose United States citizenship upon the citizens of Puerto Rico because the act represented an impediment to Puerto Rican independence as a final status solution and because the judicial and executive branches would still be controlled by the United States. The Jones-Shafroth Act, however was approved by the United States and signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on March 2, 1917. The Union Party under Barceló's leadership then resolved to adopt a different stance and to seek more autonomy which he believed would finally lead to independence. This move prompted de Diego's, who was a strong independence advocate, to have great differences with the majority of his party members,. De Diego became known as the "Father of the Puerto Rican Independence Movement".^[2]

Later years[link]

He founded the "Colegio de Agricultura y Artes Mecánicas de Mayagüez" now known as "University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez". De Diego travelled throughout the Caribbean and Spain seeking the support from what he called "Los hermanos de la misma raza" (Brothers of the same race) for Puerto Rico's independence. After giving a speech in Barcelona in to such a request, he became known as the "Caballero de la Raza" (The gentlemen of the race).^[3] José de Diego's right leg developed gangrene and was amputated in 1916. He died in New York City on July 16, 1918 of endocarditis. His remains were returned to Puerto Rico and are buried in the "Cementerio Antiguo de San Juan" (Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery), in San Juan, Puerto Rico.^[2]

Legacy[link]

José de Diego's memory has been honored in Puerto Rico, by having his birth date as an official holiday as well as the naming schools, avenues, and a highway after him. The plaza in his hometown of Aguadilla, the Plaza José de Diego is named in his honor, plus there are schools in Chicago, Illinois, Brooklyn, New York, and Miami, Florida named after him.^[3]

Partial bibliography[link]

• Pomarrosas. Barcelona: Imprenta de Henrich y Ca. en Comandita, 1904.
• El caso de Puerto Rico y el Bill de tarifas. San Juan: Porto Rico Progress Publishing, 1913.
• Jovillos. Barcelona: Editorial Maucci, 1916.
• Cantos de pitirre. Palma de Mallorca: Imprenta Mosen Alcover, 1950.
• Cantos de rebeldia. Barcelona: Editorial Maucci, 1916.
• Obras Completas. Nuevas Campañas, el Plebiscito. San Juan de Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña,
• Obras Completas. Poesia. Vol. 2. San Juan: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, 1973.
• Antología Poética. Palma de Mallorca: Ripoll, 1977.
• La obra literaria de José de Diego, San Juan: Arce De Vázquez, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, 1967

See also[link]

	Puerto Rico portal
	Biography portal
	Literature portal

• Edificio José de Diego
• List of Puerto Rican writers
• List of Famous Puerto Ricans
• Puerto Rican literature

Further reading[link]

• Jose de diego el legislador, San Juan; by: Dr. Delma S. Arrigoitia; Publisher: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena,1991; LCCN: 93114065; LC: F1978.D54 A77 1991

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: José de Diego

• José de Diego - Library of Congress
• Articulos in Spanish

v t e Puerto Rican Independence Movement Indigenous resistance Agüeybaná and Agüeybaná II · Arasibo · Hayuya · Jumacao · Urayoán Political organizations Union Party of Puerto Rico · Independence Association of Puerto Rico · Liberal Party of Puerto Rico · Puerto Rican Independence Party · Puerto Rican Nationalist Party · Hostosian National Independence Movement · Socialist Front · University Pro-Independence Federation of Puerto Rico Militant organizations Boricua Popular Army (Macheteros) · Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (Puerto Rico) 19th century activists Ramón Emeterio Betances · Mariana Bracetti · Mathias Brugman · Roberto Cofresí · María de las Mercedes Barbudo · José de Diego · Eugenio María de Hostos · Francisco Gonzalo Marín · Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón · Antonio Mattei Lluberas · Francisco Ramírez Medina · José Gualberto Padilla · Lola Rodríguez de Tió · Manuel Rojas · Juan Ríus Rivera · Segundo Ruiz Belvis · Arturo Alfonso Schomburg · Antonio Valero de Bernabe · Manuel Zeno Gandía · Fernando Fernandez · Agustín Stahl · José "Aguila Blanca" Maldonado · Marcos Xiorro 20th century activists Antonio Rafael Barceló · Rubén Berríos · Americo Boschetti · Juan Mari Brás · Marie Haydée Beltrán Torres · Roy Brown · Cayetano Coll y Cuchí · Gilberto Concepción de Gracia · Juan Dalmau Ramírez · Pedro Ortiz Davila · José M. Dávila Monsanto · Elizam Escobar · Leopoldo Figueroa · Victor Manuel Gerena · María de Lourdes Santiago · Luis Llorens Torres · Filiberto Ojeda Ríos · Manuel Rodríguez Orellana · Antonio S. Pedreira · Piri Thomas · Alejandrina Torres · Carlos Alberto Torres · Pedro Pietri · Oscar López Rivera · Miguel Poventud · Edwin Irizarry Mora Members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Pedro Albizu Campos · José S. Alegría · Margot Arce de Vázquez · Casimiro Berenguer · Julia de Burgos · Blanca Canales · Nemesio Canales · Rafael Cancel Miranda · José Coll y Cuchí · Oscar Collazo · Juan Antonio Corretjer · José Ferrer Canales · Isabel Freire de Matos · Carmelo Delgado Delgado · Raimundo Díaz Pacheco · Lolita Lebrón · Hugo Margenat · René Marqués · Francisco Matos Paoli · Ruth Mary Reynolds · Germán Rieckehoff · Helen Rodriguez-Trias · Isabel Rosado · Isolina Rondón · Vidal Santiago Díaz · Daniel Santos · Clemente Soto Vélez · Griselio Torresola · Antonio Vélez Alvarado · Carlos Vélez Rieckehoff · Teófilo Villavicencio Marxuach · Olga Viscal Garriga Events Ducoudray Holstein Expedition · Grito de Lares · Intentona de Yauco · Ponce massacre · Río Piedras massacre · Puerto Rico's Gag Law (Ley de la Mordaza) · Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s · Jayuya Uprising · San Juan Nationalist revolt · Utuado Uprising · Truman assassination attempt · U.S. Capitol shooting incident (1954) · Cerro Maravilla incident Symbols  ·  ·  · Media Claridad