Barbosa y Alcalá, José Celso (1857–1921)
Barbosa y Alcalá, José Celso (1857–1921)
José Celso Barbosa y Alcalá (b. 27 July 1857; d. 21 September 1921), Puerto Rican politician and physician. Born in the town of Bayamón to a humble family of African descent, Barbosa rose to a position of prominence in the political life of Puerto Rico. He earned a medical degree at the University of Michigan (1880) and then returned to his homeland to become a fervent advocate of annexation to the United States, which he saw as the only way to free Puerto Rico from the bonds of Spanish colonialism. Barbosa joined the Liberal Reform Party in 1883, and he spent the rest of his life leading the movement for Puerto Rico's incorporation as an autonomous unit within the United States. In 1898 he formed what a year later became known as the Republican Party of Puerto Rico, which he led until his death. From 1900 to 1917, Barbosa served on an executive council arranged by the Foraker Act. This post allowed him further participation in Puerto Rico's early attempt to settle its status after independence from Spain.
See alsoPuerto Rico .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
José Celso Barbosa, José Celso Barbosa, pionero en el cooper-ativismo puertorriqueño, siglo XIX (1982).
Raymond Carr, Puerto Rico, a Colonial Experiment (1984).
Robert J. Alexander, ed., Biographical Dictionary of Latin American and Caribbean Political Leaders (1988).
Todd Little Siebold