Pagán, Bolívar, 1897-1961

<p>Dubbed “Puerto Rico’s best-read man” by the New York Times, Bolívar Pagán was highly educated and a prolific writer. Pagán married a daughter of his mentor, labor leader and political giant Santiago Iglesias, and upon the older man’s sudden death, filled his seat as Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner in the U.S. House of Representatives. Pagán pursued his father-in-law’s economic initiatives in Congress, particularly the defense of the island’s sugar industry against strict quotas. However, Puerto Rico’s strategic location during the Second World War and the appointment of a controversial governor eventually consumed Pagán’s congressional career.</p>

<p>Bolívar Pagán was born in Guayanilla, a suburb of Ponce in southwestern Puerto Rico, on May 16, 1897, to Emilio Pagán and Elisa Lucca. Pagán received his early education in Adjuntas, before moving to Ponce for secondary school, where he excelled at writing, winning the Insular School literary prize in 1915. After graduating from Ponce High School in 1916, he worked as a journalist for several local newspapers: El día de Ponce, Nosotros, Renacimiento, and Puerto Rico ilustrado. He eventually edited La idea and La aurora. In 1919, under the tutelage of Puerto Rican Partido Socialista (Socialist Party) founder Santiago Iglesias, he became vice president of the party. Pagán received his law degree at the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras in 1921, was accepted to the bar, and set up practice in San Juan. In 1922 he served as a judge in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, on the island’s eastern coast. Frequently part of a team of politicians lobbying Washington, Pagán was particularly active in efforts to obtain statehood for the island.</p>

<p>Pagán made two unsuccessful bids as a Partido Socialista candidate, for the Puerto Rican house of representatives in 1924, and for the Puerto Rican senate in 1928; however, in 1925 he began a four-year term as the San Juan city treasurer. Pagán finally attained a seat in the insular senate as a Coalición (Coalition) candidate in 1932 and served from 1933 to 1939, rising to president pro tempore and majority floor leader. In 1936 and 1937, he was also the city manager for San Juan. Personally and politically allied to Iglesias, then the island’s Resident Commissioner in the U.S. Congress, Pagán married Iglesias’s daughter Igualdad in 1933.</p>

PAGÁN, Bolívar, (son-in-law of Santiago Iglesias), a Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico; born in Guayanilla, P.R., May 16, 1897; attended the public schools of Adjuntas, P.R., and Ponce (P.R.) High School; was graduated from the law department of the University of Puerto Rico at Río Píedras in 1921; was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in San Juan, P.R.; judge of Fajardo, P.R., in 1922; member of the insular board of elections 1923-1951; unsuccessful candidate for election to the Puerto Rican house of representatives in 1924; city treasurer of San Juan, P.R., 1925-1929; unsuccessful candidate for election to the Puerto Rican Senate in 1928; associate commissioner of the Public Service Commission of Puerto Rico 1930-1933; member of the Puerto Rican senate 1933-1939 and served as president pro tempore and majority floor leader; city manager of San Juan, P.R., in 1936 and 1937; member of the American Group of the Interparliamentary Union; also engaged as writer and editor; appointed a Resident Commissioner by the Governor of Puerto Rico as a Coalitionist to the Seventy-Sixth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Resident Commissioner Santiago Iglesias for the term ending January 3, 1941; elected to the Seventy-Seventh Congress for a four-year term (December 26, 1939-January 3, 1945); was not a candidate for renomination in 1944; again elected a member of the senate of Puerto Rico for terms 1945-1949 and 1949-1953; practiced law in San Juan, P.R., until his death there February 9, 1961; interment in Puerto Rico Memorial Cemetery, Carolina, P.R.

<p>Bolívar Pagán Lucca (May 16, 1897 – February 9, 1961) was a Puerto Rican historian, journalist, and politician.</p>

<p>Pagán was born in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico. He received his primary education in the public schools of Adjuntas, and went to secondary school in the city of Ponce. While still in school in Ponce, he was a contributor to the newspapers El Día, Nosotros, Renacimiento, and Puerto Rico Ilustrado and editor to both La Idea and La Aurora. In 1919 Pagán became the vice president of the Socialist Party of Puerto Rico, a pro-statehood, pro-labor party (not to be confused with the Puerto Rican Socialist Party founded in the 1970s).</p>

<p>In 1921 he graduated with a law degree from the University of Puerto Rico School of Law; the same year he was admitted to the bar and began to practice law in San Juan. The following year he served as judge of Fajardo, Puerto Rico.</p>