Larrínaga, Tulio, 1847-1917

Tulio Larrínaga (January 15, 1847 – April 28, 1917) was a Puerto Rican civil engineer and politician. A member of the Unionist Party of Puerto Rico, he served in the U.S. Congress as Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico from 1905 to 1911.

Born in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, Larrínaga attended the Seminario Consiliar of San Ildefonso at San Juan, Puerto Rico, studied civil engineering at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and, in 1871, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Among Larrínaga’s projects were the preparation of a topographical map of Kings County, New York, and his work for an engineering firm involved in the construction of Grand Central Station in New York City. Returning to Puerto Rico in 1872, Larrínaga served as a municipal architect of San Juan. He also helped found Ateneo Puertorriqueño (the Puerto Rican Arts and Sciences Association) in 1876 and served as the head of the English department in the cultural center. He was a member of the Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Nation and the insular library commission. Larrínaga is credited with building the first railroad in Puerto Rico—a short line that ran from San Juan several miles south to Rio Piedras—and with introducing American rolling stock to the island. He served for 10 years as an engineer of the Provincial Deputation, working extensively on the construction of San Juan Harbor and on roads elsewhere on the island.

In 1900, along with Luis Muñoz Rivera and others, Larrínaga founded the Partido Federalista de Puerto Rico (Federal Party of Puerto Rico), which advocated Puerto Rico’s joining the United States as a territory but retaining control of local institutions. (In 1904 Larrínaga would join the Partido de Unión (Union Party), the successor to the Partido Federalista, which promoted local autonomy while reforming political ties between the United States and Puerto Rico.) Larrínaga served as member of the house of delegates for the district of Arecibo in 1902. In 1904, he was elected as a Unionist Resident Commissioner to the United States. He was reelected twice, serving from March 4, 1905, until March 3, 1911. During his tenure in the House, Larrínaga served on the Committee on Insular Affairs, created to oversee civil government and infrastructure issues pertaining to the United States’ territories overseas, including the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico.10 Unlike his predecessor, Federico Degetau, who was hamstrung by his lack of floor and speaking privileges, Larrínaga enjoyed these privileges from the outset of his congressional career and was well versed in advocating for Puerto Rican interests in Washington. Larrínaga also served as delegate from the United States to the Third Pan-American Conference held in Rio de Janeiro in 1906.

Larrínaga retired at the end of the 61st Congress and returned to his engineering career. He remained politically active by serving on the territorial executive council. On April 28, 1917, he died of heart trouble in Santurce, a suburb of San Juan.