Iglesias Pantín, Santiago, 1872-1939

<p>Santiago Iglesias Pantín (February 22, 1872 – December 5, 1939), was a Spanish-born Puerto Rican socialist and trade union activist. Iglesias is best remembered as a leading supporter of statehood for Puerto Rico, and as the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the U.S. Congress from 1933 to 1939.</p>

<p>Santiago Iglesias was born in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain, where he attended the common schools, and was apprenticed as a cabinet maker. At a young age he stowed away on a ship which landed in Cuba. There he organized workers and, beginning in 1889 was secretary of the Workingmen Trades Circle in Havana.</p>

<p>Iglesias subsequently moved to Puerto Rico, and was the founder and editor of three labor papers:
<ul>
<li><i>Porvenir Social</i> (from 1898 to 1900)</li>
<li><i>Union Obrera</i> (from 1903 to 1906)</li>
<li><i>Justicia</i> (from 1914 to 1925)</li>
</ul> </p>

<p>He was a very active labor organizer in Puerto Rico and was often arrested and jailed for his activities, and was considered American Federation of Labor (AFL) president Samuel Gompers's ally on the island. In fact, Gompers appointed him general organizer of the American Federation of Labor for the districts of Puerto Rico and Cuba in 1901.</p>

<p>Imprisoned in San Juan when the Americans invaded Puerto Rico in 1898, Santiago Iglesias was a fiery labor organizer who frequently ran afoul of Spanish authorities. Eventually embracing American democratic principles, Iglesias became known as “Mr. Liberty” and the “He-Cinderella of Porto Rico.” Born in poverty in Spain, Iglesias, the former radical who was eventually considered the “dean of the Puerto Rican politicians” and a “staid and dependable” public servant, was elected Resident Commissioner during a period of political upheaval. A tireless legislator, Iglesias espoused Puerto Rican statehood along with greater local control, increased federal financial assistance, and close political ties to the mainland United States. “Puerto Rico is American socially, politically,” he concluded in his maiden speech on the House Floor. “And its trade, its practices, and its industry pile and flourish under the American flag.… Since 1917 all Puerto Ricans have been American citizens, and this citizenship is the same brand as that of New Yorkers, or Californians, or Minnesotans, or Down-in-Mainers.”</p>

<p>Santiago Iglesias was born on February 22, 1872, in La Coruña, Spain. His father, Manuel Iglesias, was a carpenter. Iglesias’s mother, Josefa Pantín, worked in a cigar factory to support her family, and Santiago Iglesias left school at age 12 to become a carpenter’s apprentice. Early in his training, he took part in a violent strike, his first act in a lifelong struggle to reform labor rights.</p>

<p>In 1887 Iglesias joined the Spanish Socialist Party and moved to Cuba, where he took a job in a furniture factory. His work with organized labor, including rallying laborers to lobby for a 12-hour workday, led to his frequent dismissal from and constant movement between jobs. Iglesias’s involvement with the Cuban War for Independence in 1895 drew the ire of Spanish authorities. He attempted to escape to England in 1896; however, after arousing the suspicions of his fellow passengers aboard the ship, which was to route through Spain on its way to Great Britain, he disembarked in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on December 26.</p>

IGLESIAS, Santiago, (father-in-law of Bolívar Pagán), a Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico; born in La Coruña, Spain, February 22, 1872; attended the common schools; apprenticed as a cabinet maker; moved to Cuba and was secretary of the Workingmen Trades Circle in Habana 1889-1896; moved to Puerto Rico and was the founder and editor of three labor papers: Porvenir Social 1898-1900, Union Obrera 1903-1906, Justicia 1914-1925; appointed general organizer of the American Federation of Labor for the districts of Puerto Rico and Cuba in 1901; member of the Puerto Rican senate 1917-1933; served as secretary of the Pan American Federation of Labor 1925-1933; elected as a Coalitionist a Resident Commissioner to the United States on November 8, 1932; reelected in 1936 for the term ending January 3, 1941, and served from March 4, 1933, until his death in Washington, D.C., December 5, 1939; interment in San Juan Cemetery, San Juan, P.R.