Jesús T. Piñero

Jesús Toribio Piñero

Jesús Toribio Piñero (born April 6, 1897 in Carolina , Puerto Rico , † November 16, 1952 in Loiza , Puerto Rico) was the first Puerto Rican to be appointed governor of his homeland by the US government .

Life

The son of a wealthy family, Piñero completed his schooling in his hometown. He graduated from the University of Puerto Rico's Artistic Faculty in 1914 . He also studied engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia . From 1920 to 1944, Piñero worked in the dairy business and growing sugar cane . He was always interested in the agricultural development of Puerto Rico, which prompted him to get involved in politics.

politics

He was President of the Carolina Congregation from 1928 to 1932, when the Puerto Rico government was still under the United States . For the next four years he was President of the Association of the Sugar Cane Industry and was a member of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico . In 1938, Piñero founded the Partido Popular Democrático with Luis Muñoz Marín . The party appointed him Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, representing the island as a delegate to the United States House of Representatives in Washington, DC . However, he had no right to vote. In 1946, US President Harry S. Truman appointed him to succeed Governor Rexford Tugwell, who had been in office since 1941 . Piñero was the first local to hold this post, which he held until 1949. Then Luis Muñoz Marín decided the first choice in Puerto Rico for himself.

death

Piñero died in Loiza on November 16, 1952 and was buried in his hometown of Carolina. A high school and high street in San Juan were named after him in his honor. At the entrance to his hometown, the sculptor Jose Buscaglia Guillermety erected a statue that represents him.

Web links

• Jesús T. Piñero in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Biography in the Library of Congress (English)