Sotero Figueroa Hernández (1851 - October 5, 1923) was born in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

. He studied at the school of Rafael Cordero in

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 ...

, and was later known for his work as a journalist, dramatist, speaker and author of biographical essays. He was also a loyal defender of Puerto Rican and

Cuban independence The Cuban War of Independence (), also known in Cuba as the Necessary War (), fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spanish Empire, Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–187 ...

. Figueroa died and was buried 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 ...

in 1923.

Early years

Figueroa was born in the city of

, in 1851 and is believed to have studied at the Rafael Cordero school in

. In his youth, he was apprenticed to the office of the typographer in the capital printing press of the liberal and Puerto Rican abolitionist,

José Julián Acosta José Julián Acosta (February 16, 1825 – August 26, 1891), was a journalist and an advocate of the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico. Early years José Julián Acosta Calbo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico to Francisco de Acosta y Sandova ...

, a former student of maestro Rafael Cordero.

Writing

Before moving to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, Figueroa’s first job as a writer in Puerto Rico was in Ramon Marín’s print shop, Establicimiento Tipográphico; there he wrote pieces for ''La Crónica'' and ''El Pueblo'' and acted as editor of these in Marín's absence. Figueroa began a print shop, after moving to New York in 1889; Imprenta America would serve as the publishing house for revolutionary newspapers such as

Jose Martí Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. Given name Mishnaic and Talmudic periods * Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean *Jose ben Halafta * ...

’s ''

La Patria ''La Patria'' is a newspaper published in Oruro, Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plain ...

'' and ''El Porvernir''. After the Cuban War of Independence, Figueroa moved to Cuba and often published articles in Cuban newspapers such as ''

El Fígaro El Fígaro was a Cuban magazine published in Havana from 1885 to 1929, with irregular publications continuing until 1933. It began as a sports magazine, but evolved into a more general interest consumer magazine and became "the driving force of t ...

, La Discusíon'', and ''La Gaceta''. He died in 1923 and in 1977 his book, ''La Verdad De La Historia'' was published in Puerto Rico posthumously.

''Ensayo Biográfico (Biographical Essay)''

Months before he left

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 ...

for the

United States 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 ...

, Sotero began writing ''Ensayo Biográfico (Biographical Essay)'' in which there were biographical sketches of those “...who had most contributed to the progress of Puerto Rico." This work offers a set of laudatory biographies that acknowledge the heroism of several Puerto Rican Creoles. In the ''Biographical Essays'', there are also passages about race, castes, and slavery in

citing laws that make poor black men inferior. As a black man living in

, he often wrote about how unfairly he and his fellow men were treated. This Essay is the best known work of Figueroa.

''Don Mamerto''

Figueroa also wrote the

zarzuela () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name o ...

, "Don Mamerto" in 1886, which was presented at the

Teatro La Perla Teatro La Perla is a historic theater in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Inaugurated in 1864, it is the second oldest theater of its kind in Puerto Rico, but "the largest and most historic in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean." The theater was name ...

with music by the Ponce composer,

Juan Morel Campos Juan Morel Campos (16 May 1857 – 12 May 1896), sometimes erroneously spelled ''Juan Morell Campos'', was a Puerto Rican composer, considered by many to be responsible for taking the genre of danza to its highest level. He composed over ...

. This work was a scathing satire of those who betray their ideals because of political opportunism, or by being blinded by materialism or social aspirations.

Emigration and politics

Figueroa emigrated to the city of

in 1889. Arriving in New York City, he joined the Antillean separatist movement and established a close friendship with the exiled

Cuban Cuban or Cubans may refer to: Related to Cuba * of or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban Americ ...

patriot,

José Martí José Julián Martí Pérez (; 28 January 1853 – 19 May 1895) was a Cuban nationalism, nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in ...

. There he met several other Puerto Rican patriots involved in the separatist movement, among them Francisco Gonzalo (Pachín) Marín and

Arturo Alfonso Schomburg Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (January 24, 1874 – June 19, 1938), was a historian, writer, curator, and activist, who wrote numerous books. Schomburg was a Puerto Rican of African and German descent. He moved to the United States in 1891, settling i ...

. Sotero Figueroa’s writings were also tied to his political beliefs. Figueroa, Ramón Marín, and Francisco Gonzalo (Pachín) Marín together worked to reform politics in Puerto Rico in the late 1800s. Their mission was make equality a reality by expelling the ideals of rank and class and promoting instead a focus on “individual merit”. They believed that

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

s that existed were put on the public by

Spanish colonial The Spanish Colonial Revival architecture (), often known simply as Spanish Revival, is a term used to encompass a number of revivalist architectural styles based in both Spanish colonial architecture and Spanish architecture in general. These ...

control and limited the Puerto Rican population’s growth economically, politically, and physically. At age 22, Figueroa was chosen as an assembly leader under Rafael Primo de Rivera, the new liberal Governor of Puerto Rico. In 1892, he collaborated in the founding of the Club Borinquen, the first of several Puerto Rican pro-independence organizations affiliated with the

Cuban Revolutionary Party The Cuban Revolutionary Party (, PRC) was a political organization created by the Cuban intellectual José Martí on 10 April 1892 in order to organize the independence of Cuba and, as much as possible, Puerto Rico, the last two overseas provinces ...

(PRC). The

PRC China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the e ...

was founded by

that same year to promote the independence of

. Figueroa would later become secretary of the Executive Board of the

References

* Acosta Bel, Edna, Centro de Estudios Martianos. Havana, Cuba. 28 January 2010.

External links

''Portal Jose Marti: Artículos y Personalidades.''
Centro de Estudios Martianos (CEM). Havana, Cuba. 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Figueroa, Sotero 1851 births 1923 deaths Puerto Rican male writers Journalists from Ponce 19th-century Puerto Rican writers