José María Marxuach Echavarría (baptized as José Monserrate Marxuach Echavarría) (April 16, 1848 – 1910), was a Puerto Rican medical doctor and politician who served twice as Mayor of the City of

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 ...

. His first administration was before the U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico and his second administration was under United States colonial rule.

Early years

Marxuach Echavarría was born in

Aguadilla, Puerto Rico Aguadilla (, ), founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a Aguadilla barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of ...

, and baptized as "José Monserrate Marxuach Echavarría". His parents were Francisco Marxuach Ferrer (son of Juan Marxuach Prats and Francisca Ferrer of

Mataró Mataró () is the capital and largest town of the Maresme county in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the Costa del Maresme, Maresme coast, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar and Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, north-east of Barcel ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

) and Beatriz Amalia Echavarría Conti. His mother was the granddaughter of Colonel Rafael Conti y Flores, remembered for his defense of Aguadilla during the

British invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...

of 1797, and the great-granddaughter of Colonel Francisco Torralbo y Robles,

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 ...

of the island from 1794 to 1798. Following in the footsteps of his maternal uncle, José Rafael Echavarría Conti, Marxuach Echavarría traveled to Spain to study medicine at the

University of Zaragoza The University of Zaragoza, sometimes referred to as Saragossa University () is a public university with teaching campuses and research centres spread over the three provinces of Aragon (Spain). Founded in 1542, it is one of the List of oldest u ...

, from which he graduated in 1871 with a ''

licenciatura A licentiate (abbreviated Lic.) is an academic degree present in many countries, representing different educational levels. The Licentiate (Pontifical Degree) is a post graduate degree when issued by pontifical universities and other universit ...

'' in medicine and surgery. After his return to Puerto Rico he worked as a

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

in various towns on the island, including

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

. In 1881, he was designated President of the Subdelegation of Medical and Surgical Sciences of Puerto Rico.

Political career

In 1897, while holding the post of ''Primer Teniente de

Alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

'' of San Juan, he was selected for the post of Mayor ''ad interim.'' During his administration San Juan's pedestrian and drainage infrastructure–and thus its general level of sanitation–was greatly improved; other modernizations resulted in the tearing down of a stretch of the city's ancient

presidio A presidio (''jail, fortification'') was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire mainly between the 16th and 18th centuries in areas under their control or influence. The term is derived from the Latin word ''praesidium'' meaning ''pr ...

walls. In the midst of the 1898 U.S. invasion, Dr. Marxuach Echavarría assisted Dr. Coll y Toste (then serving as Vice-President of the Puerto Rican

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

) in treating the wounded during the fighting in San Juan. The following year General George W. Davis, the American Military Governor of Puerto Rico, allowed

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

elections to be held for the first time since the U.S. invasion. The Puerto Rico Republican Party enjoyed a sweeping victory in San Juan, as a result of which

Manuel Egozcue Cintrón Manuel Egozcue y Cintrón (1855 in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico – 1906) was a businessman and a prominent politician in Spain and Puerto Rico during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. After completing university, he emigrated to Puerto Rico, t ...

become ''Alcalde''; Marxuach Echavarría, who was a political associate of Egozcue's, obtained a seat in the Municipal Council (''Concejo Municipal''). In 1900, Marxuach Echavarría was elected Mayor-President (''Alcalde Presidente''). The dual office, a result of Spanish reforms implemented in 1878, combined the executive duties of a municipal mayor with the offices of a

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

president. Marxuach Echavarría was succeeded in office by his predecessor. Dr. Marxuach Echavarría died in 1910.

Notable relatives

Marxuach Echavarría married Josefina Plumey Irizarry (daughter of Juan Bautista Plumey and Petronila Irizarry) in 1873. They had two daughters, Teresa (mother of Puerto Rican radio pioneer

Teófilo Villavicencio Teófilo is a given name. People with the name include: *Teófilo Barrios (born 1964), Paraguayan football (soccer) defender *Teófilo Benito (1966–2004), Spanish middle-distance runner *Teófilo Borunda (1912–2001), Mexican politician *Teófil ...

) and Amalia, as well as two sons, Lt. Col. Teófilo Marxuach and Acisclo Marxuach Plumey (b. 1892). Acisclo was honorary

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

of Spain in Puerto Rico in 1935 and held the title of second Grand Master of the Order of Saint John the Baptist of Puerto Rico; Acisclo's extensive art collection included works by Puerto Rican painters

Ramón Atiles y Pérez Ramón or Ramon may refer to: People Given name *Ramón (footballer, born 1950), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1983), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1988), Brazilian footballer *Ramón (footballer, born 1990), Br ...

José Campeche José Campeche y Jordán (December 23, 1751 – November 7, 1809), is the first known Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican visual artist and considered by art critics as one of the best rococo artists in the Americas. Campeche y Jordán loved to use ...

Luis Paret y Alcázar Luis Paret y Alcázar (11 February 1746 – 14 February 1799) was a Spanish painter of the late-Baroque or Rococo period. Biography He was born in Madrid and was first trained with Antonio González Velázquez and attended the Real Academia de Be ...

, and

Francisco Oller Francisco Manuel Oller y Cestero (June 17, 1833 – May 17, 1917) was a Puerto Rican painter, the only Latin American painter to have played a role in the development of Impressionism. One of the most distinguished transatlantic painters of ...

. Marxuach Echavarría was also the grandfather of Colonel

Gilberto José Marxuach Colonel Gilberto José Marxuach a.k.a. "The Father of the San Juan Civil Defense" (November 19, 1910 – April 18, 1957), was a former officer in the United States Army who in 1951 founded and became the first director of the Civil Defense in ...

, known as "The Father of the San Juan Civil Defense".

References

External links

Complete List of Alcaldes of San Juan

Boletín histórico de Puerto Rico

Smithsonian American Art Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marxuach Echavarria, Jose M. 1848 births 1910 deaths People from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico 19th-century Puerto Rican physicians Mayors of San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican general practitioners Puerto Rican people of Basque descent Puerto Rican people of Catalan descent Republican Party (Puerto Rico) politicians 19th-century Puerto Rican politicians 19th-century mayors of places in Puerto Rico 20th-century mayors of places in Puerto Rico

Early years

Political career

Notable relatives

See also

References

External links