- Nemesio Canales
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Nemesio Canales 
Nemesio CanalesBorn December 18, 1878 Died September 14, 1923 Occupation journalist, novelist, playwright Nationality Puerto Rican Nemesio R. Canales (December 18, 1878 – September 14, 1923) was a Puerto Rican essayist, journalist, novelist, playwright, politician and activist who defended women's civil rights. As a politician, he presented a bill to the Puerto Rican House of Representatives, which eventually was approved, giving women their full civil rights, including the right to vote.
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Early years
Canales attended schools in Utuado and Jayuya, Puerto Rico, the town where he was born. His younger sister was Blanca Canales, became a nationalist leader and led the Jayuya Uprising revolt against United States colonial rule in 1950. Canales continued his higher educational studies in the "Liceo of Mayagüez" where he earned a bachelor's degree in literature. In 1896, Canales went to Spain and enrolled in the University of Zaragoza to study medicine. In 1898, when the United States declared war against Spain, Canales abandoned his studies and went to Baltimore, Maryland. There he enrolled in Baltimore's College of Law in 1903.[1]
Political activist
The House of Nemesio and Blanca Canales in Jayuya
Upon his return to Puerto Rico he went to live in the city of Ponce. He then married Guarina Diaz, the granddaughter of Roman Baldorioty de Castro. In Ponce, Canales joined the law firm of Luis Llorens Torres.
Canales, like so many lawyers of the time, wrote poetry of patriotic themes, collaborated as a journalist and took an active interest in politics. He joined the Unionist Party and served in the Puerto Rican House of Representatives. The Unionist Party promoted the economic progress of the working class. In 1909, he presented a bill to the House, which eventually was approved, giving women their full civil rights, including the right to vote. He also served as a lecturer in the School of Law of the University of Puerto Rico.[1]
Writer
Statue of Nemesio Canales at the town square in Jayuya. Also in the picture are Nemesio Canales' grandson Luis Canales, right, and his great-great grandson Christopher TschirhartCanales co-founded with Luis Llorens Torres the "Revista de las Antillanas". He also wrote short novels and a comedy called "El Heroe Galopante" (The Traveling Hero), which debuted on stage in 1923 after his death. In 1914, he bought the newspaper "El Día" of Ponce (which later became "El Nuevo Día"). In his newspaper he had a column in which he wrote his "Paliques". In the "Paliques", he showed his understanding of the human nature with humor and insight. In his works, he makes an emphasis of the pride that he feels for things Puerto Rican. A collection of his essays, "Paliques" were published in 1913. Among his other works are the novels "Hacia Un Lejano Sol", "Mi Volutad Ha Muerto" and "La Leyenda Benaventina". Canales gave many lectures, among the countries he visited were Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Panama and Venezuela.
On September 14, 1923, Nemesio Canales was in New York City with the intention of going to Washington, D.C. as a legal assistant to a legislative Puerto Rican commission, when he died.
Honors
Puerto Rico awards the Nemesio Canales Award in Literature every year to outstanding young writers, and has named a public housing project in San Juan named after him.
His native town, Jayuya, erected a statue in his honor, sculpted by well-known Puerto Rican sculptor Tomas Batista, in the "Plaza de Recreo (town square) Nemesio R. Canales".[2] Jayuya also converted the house in which Nemesio and his sister were raised was converted into a museum.
In Ponce, he is honored at the Illustrious Ponce Citizens Plaza in Tricentennial Park.
See also
- List of Puerto Rican writers
- List of Famous Puerto Ricans
- Puerto Rican literature
References
- ^ a b Nemesio Canales
- ^ Jayuya
External links
Categories:- 1878 births
- 1923 deaths
- People from Jayuya, Puerto Rico
- Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent
- Puerto Rican activists
- Puerto Rican poets
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