Elizalde, J. M. (Joaquín Miguel), 1896-1965

<p>Joaquín Miguel Elizalde y Díaz (August 2, 1896 – February 9, 1965) was a Filipino diplomat and businessman.</p>

<p>Elizalde was born on August 2, 1896 in Manila, the eldest child of José Joaquín Elizalde (who was the Philippine-born son of Joaquín Marcelino Elizalde y Yrisarry, an immigrant from Elizondo in Navarre, Spain) and Carmen Díaz y Moreau (who was from Spain). His siblings were Juan Miguel, Ángel, Manuel ("Manolo"), Federico ("Fred") and Carmenchu.</p>

<p>He was educated at St. Joseph's College, London, and Dr. Schmidt's Institute in St. Gallen, Switzerland.</p>

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ELIZALDE, Joaquin Miguel, a Resident Commissioner from the Commonwealth of the Philippines; born in Manila, Manila Province, Luzon, Philippine Islands, August 2, 1896; attended St. Joseph's College, London, England; attended Dr. Schmidt's Institute at St. Gallen, Switzerland; attended London School of Economics, London, England; industrialist; financier; economic advisor to President Manuel L. Quezon, 1937-1938; member of the Philippine national economic council 1937-1941, 1952-1953; member of the joint preparatory committee on Philippine affairs, 1936-1937; member of the Philippine council of state 1936-1941, 1952-1953; served in the Philippine Army; appointed as a Resident Commissioner to the Seventy-sixth Congress, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Resident Commissioner Quintin Paredes, and served until his resignation on August 9, 1944 (September 29, 1938-August 9, 1944); member of the war cabinet of President Manuel L. Quezon, 1941-1944; member of the board of governors of the International Monetary Fund and of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1946-1950; appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Republic of the Philippines to the United States, 1946-1952; minister of foreign affairs of the Republic of the Philippines 1952-1953; economic adviser to the Philippine Mission at the United Nations, with rank of ambassador, 1956-1965; died on February 9, 1965, in Washington, D.C.; interment at St. Joseph's Cemetery, Carrollton Manor, Md.

<p>Joaquin Miguel (Mike) Elizalde, a wealthy businessman, won appointment as Resident Commissioner from the Philippines in 1938 as war clouds converged in the Pacific. In the U.S. House of Representatives, he threaded the needle between preparing his home islands for independence while assuring the United States of Philippine allegiance in the face of imminent conflict with Japan. He displayed remarkable skill as a diplomat, protecting business interests and Filipino laborers in the United States and serving as an articulate, widely admired spokesman for the commonwealth. He was, said one colleague during the war, “the leading spirit of bracing up the morale of his conquered and ill-treated people.” Elizalde transformed the Resident Commissioner’s office into the functional equivalent of the Philippine Embassy, an office he later held as the islands’ first ambassador to the United States in 1946. Representative Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, who served with Elizalde in the House, attributed Elizalde’s success to his personable, even humble, approach that complemented his steadfast devotion to the islands: “He is as plain as an old shoe and is a real friend of his people.”</p>

<p>Joaquin Miguel Elizalde was born on August 2, 1896, in the Philippine capital of Manila to José Joaquin Elizalde and Maria del Carmen Diaz Moreu Elizalde. The family was of Castilian Spanish descent; Joaquin Elizalde was a Spanish citizen until the 1930s. Sources vary, but the most reliable suggest that he became a Philippine citizen in 1933. He was schooled in Spain, in Switzerland at Dr. Schmidt’s Institute in St. Gallen, and in London, England, at St. Joseph’s College and the London School of Economics. According to at least one source, Elizalde also served in the Spanish army for a year.</p>

<p>As the scion of one of the islands’ most respected families, Elizalde moved easily among the Filipino elite and, by his early 30s, had positioned himself as one of the Philippines’ captains of industry. From 1918 to 1934, he was a managing partner of Ynchausti y Cia, a trading company that his family founded in the mid-19th century. When Elizalde took over as president in 1934, it became Elizalde & Company, Inc. At various points in his career, he also was a leading figure in a web of interconnected companies that ranged from insurance sales to steamships and in other companies producing or trading in rope, gold, iron, cattle, lumber, paint, sugar, and distilled spirits. Elizalde was an avid golfer, director of the Manila Polo Club, and a member of a championship polo team comprising his brothers in the 1930s. He married Elena von Kauffmann in Manila on May 17, 1924. That marriage produced two daughters, Cecilia and Elenita. The couple divorced in 1957. Elizalde remarried to Susan Magalona Ledesma, and the couple had two children, Maria Theresa and Juan Miguel.</p>