Diego, José de (1866–1918)

José de Diego (b. 16 April 1866; d. 16 July 1918), Puerto Rican poet. Born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, de Diego studied law at the University of Barcelona in Spain, where he began writing poetry and prose. After completing his degree in Havana in 1892, he returned to Puerto Rico and became a prosecutor, later serving as undersecretary of justice and government, congressional representative, and Supreme Court justice. A staunch autonomist, he advocated the primacy of the Spanish language and Puerto Rico's independence from the United States. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1907 until his death, president of the Union Party from 1914 to 1916, and president of the Puerto Rico Athenaeum from 1916 to 1918. De Diego was famous as an orator and for his books of poetry, among them Pomarrosas (Rose apples, 1904), Cantos de rebeldía (Songs of rebellion, 1916), and Cantos de Pitirre (Songs of Pitirre, published posthumously in 1949). Patriotism, Puerto Rico's country life, Americanism, the Antilles, and romantic love are his major themes. He also published a volume of selected prose, Nuevas campañas (New campaigns) in 1916.

See alsoPuerto Rico, Political Parties: Overviewxml .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Margot Arce De Vázquez, La obra literaria de José de Diego (1967).

Concha Meléndez, José de Diego en mi memoria (1966).

Delma S. Arrigoitia, José de Diego: A Legislator in Times of Political Transition (1903–1918) (1985).

Additional Bibliography

Arce de Vázquez, Margot. Obras completas vol. 2, "La obra literaria y el pensamiento poético de José de Diego." San Juan: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1998.

Arrigoitía, Delma S. José de Diego, el legislador: su visión de Puerto Rico en la historia (1903–1918). San Juan: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, 1991.

Rodríguez Escudero, Néstor A. José de Diego: el caballero de la patria. Puerto Rico[?], 1992.

                                        Estelle Irizarry