José Julián Acosta

José Julián Acosta, 1880

José Julián Acosta (born February 6, 1825 in San Juan , Puerto Rico , † August 26, 1891 in San Juan , Puerto Rico) was a Puerto Rican journalist and an important exponent of abolitionism in Puerto Rico.

Life

Acosta was one of Rafael Cordero's best students and the influence of his teacher shaped his further life. Later, he was a protégé of Father Rufo Manuel Fernández him to Madrid , sent to physics and mathematics to study. After graduating in 1851, he expanded his education in Paris , London and Berlin . In Germany he was a student of Alexander von Humboldt .

On his return to Puerto Rico, he took over a professorship in botany and maritime sciences and became director of the Civil Institute of Secondary Education . He edited the newspaper El Progreso (The Progress) and collaborated with many other liberal newspapers.

In 1867 he was a member of a Puerto Rican commission with Segundo Ruiz Belvis and Francisco Mariano Quiñones that participated in the Overseas Information Committee in Madrid. There Acosta presented his arguments for the abolition of slavery . In the same year he was inducted into the Royal Spanish Academy of History during his stay after editing Fray Iñigo Abbad y Lasierras Historia geografica, civil y natural de la isla de San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico .

Upon his return to the island, Acosta, like many other liberal Puerto Ricans, was severely ill-treated by the Spanish governor. As a result of the Grito de Lares uprising, he was suspected of being a conspirator and General Pavia locked him in the dungeon of Fort San Felipe del Morro, although he was not involved in the failed revolt. He later published the pamphlet Horas de Prisión (Hours of Imprisonment), in which he described his experiences in prison.

In 1871 he was elected representative at the Spanish court and in 1873 he became president of the liberal reform party, which he left a year later because he joined the Autonomist Party of Román Baldorioty de Castro . On March 22, 1873, he and the other abolitionists celebrated the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico.

After his death in 1891 he was buried in the Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in Old San Juan.