Lazaro, Ladislas, 1872-1927

<p>Representative Ladislas Lazaro, a country doctor from southwest Louisiana, was the second Hispanic American to serve in Congress with full voting rights. Propelled into national office in 1912 as a supporter of Democrat Woodrow Wilson’s Progressive platform, Lazaro tended to the agricultural interests of his Louisiana district in the bayou country dotted with rice, cotton, and sugar cane plantations. He focused largely on protective tariffs and on improving farmers’ access to markets through waterway and railway projects—an issue of primary importance to planters and businessmen who sought to deliver commodities to ports like New Orleans and Lake Charles. Addressed affectionately by colleagues and constituents alike as “Doctor” or “Doc,” Lazaro was esteemed for his patient, dispassionate counsel. He was the second Hispanic American ever to chair a standing committee and, by the early 1920s, the longest-serving Hispanic Member to that point.</p>

<p>Ladislas Lazaro was born on June 5, 1872, on the Lazaro plantation near Ville Platte, Louisiana, in St. Landry Parish, part of which is now Evangeline Parish. Lazaro was the child of Marie Denise Ortego, a daughter of one of Ville Platte’s founding Hispanic families, and Alexandre Lazaro, an émigré from the town of Risan, in what is now Montenegro in the Balkans. The family lived on a plantation, which Lazaro’s father farmed. When Ladislas was 12 years old, his father died; his mother then moved the family into Ville Platte. Ladislas Lazaro’s lifelong friend René Louis De Rouen observed that Lazaro had a middle-class upbringing and was surrounded by local boys from similar stations in life, “neither very rich nor poor,” knowing of “no hunger that he was not sure of satisfying and of no luxury which enervates the mind or body.” Lazaro attended local public and private schools in St. Landry Parish. He attended St. Isadore’s College (a preparatory school now named Holy Cross High School) in New Orleans. In 1894 Lazaro graduated from the Louisville Medical College in Kentucky and began practicing as a family physician in Washington, Louisiana, a hamlet 15 miles southeast of Ville Platte. Lazaro married the former Mary (Mamie) Curley of Lake Charles, Louisiana, on December 21, 1895. They raised three daughters—Elaine, Mary, and Eloise—and a son, Ladislas, Jr. Lazaro’s medical practice thrived at the turn of the century, and he eventually was chosen by his colleagues to serve as first vice president of the state medical society in 1907.</p>

<p>Education issues in St. Landry Parish kindled Lazaro’s interest in politics when his children became old enough to attend the local schools. In 1904 he was appointed to the parish school board; two years later he became board president. He pushed for agricultural high schools, establishing the first in St. Landry Parish. In July 1907 he declared his candidacy for a state senate seat that encompassed his home parish, along with neighboring Evangeline and Acadia Parishes. His platform centered largely on cleaning up the state government’s employment and spending practices, although it also focused on improving funding for health and education. In addition, Lazaro advocated for agricultural interests, calling particularly for the increased study of scientific farming practices. “The future of this country is largely agricultural, and no effort should be spared to place it in position to compete successfully with scientifically trained rivals,” he said. Lazaro’s politics derived from a common Progressive impulse, a faith that rationality and scientific methodology would improve society by fostering a better-educated citizenry and a renewed commitment to public service. Lazaro ran unopposed and won re-election, again without opposition, in 1912. In Baton Rouge, he served as chairman of the committee on charitable and public institutions and also as a member of the education committee. His principal legislative accomplishments were securing more funds for charity hospitals and helping to pass the first state appropriation for agricultural high schools.</p>

LAZARO, Ladislas, a Representative from Louisiana; born near Ville Platte, Evangeline (then St. Landry) Parish, La., June 5, 1872; attended public and private schools and Holy Cross College, New Orleans, La.; was graduated from Louisville (Ky.) Medical College in 1894 and practiced his profession in Washington, La., until 1913; became interested in agricultural pursuits; president of the parish school board for four years; served in the State senate 1908-1912; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-third and to the seven succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1913, until his death in Washington, D.C., March 30, 1927; interment in the Old City Cemetery, Ville Platte, La.

<p>Ladislas Lazaro (June 5, 1872 – March 30, 1927) was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Louisiana from 1913 to 1927.</p>

<p>Born near Ville Platte, Evangeline (then St. Landry) Parish, Louisiana. He was the son of Marie Denise Ortego, a daughter of one of Ville Platte’s founding Hispanic families, and Alexandre Lazaro Biladinoviz, a Roma immigrant from the town of Risan (in what is now Montenegro), who came to America aboard a ship from Russia as a stowaway. Lazaro attended public and private schools and Holy Cross College, New Orleans, Louisiana. He was graduated from Louisville (Kentucky) Medical College in 1894 and practiced his profession in Washington, Louisiana, until 1913.</p>

<p>He became interested in agricultural pursuits. He served as president of the parish school board for four years. He also served in the Louisiana State Senate from 1908 to 1912.</p>