Eugenio María de Hostos (January 11, 1839 – August 11, 1903) born in the Barrio "Río Cañas" of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, known as "El Ciudadano de las Americas" (The Citizen of the Americas), was a Puerto Rican educator, philosopher and independence advocate.
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Early years
Hostos was born into a well-to-do family. At a young age his family sent him to San Juan, where he received his elementary education in the Liceo de San Juan. In 1852, his family then sent him to Bilbao, Spain, where he graduated from the Institute of Secondary Education (high school). After he graduated, he enrolled and attended the Central University of Madrid. He studied law, philosophy and letters. As a student there, he became interested in politics. In 1863, he also wrote what is considered his greatest work, "La Peregrinación de Bayoan". When Spain adopted its new constitution in 1869 and refused to grant Puerto Rico its independence, Hostos left and went to the United States.
Independence advocate
In the U.S. he joined the Cuban Revolutionary Committee and became the editor of a journal called La Revolución. Hostos believed in the creation of an Antillano Confederation between Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. This idea was embraced by fellow Puerto Ricans Ramón Emeterio Betances and Segundo Ruiz Belvis. One of the things that disappointed Hostos was that he realized that in Puerto Rico and in Cuba there were many people who wanted their independence from Spain, but who did not embrace the idea of becoming revolutionist. Instead they preferred to be annexed by the United States. Hostos wanted to promote the independence of Puerto Rico and Cuba and the idea of an Antillean Confederation ("Confederación Antillana"), and he therefore traveled to many countries. Among the countries he went promoting his idea were: the United States, France, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and the former Danish colony of St. Thomas which is now part of the United States Virgin Islands.
Contributions to Latin America
While in Peru, Hostos helped to develop that country's educational system and spoke against the harsh treatment given to the Chinese who lived there. He stayed in Chile from 1870 to 1873. During his stay there, he taught at the University of Chile and gave a speech titled "The Scientific Education of Women." He proposed in his speech that governments permit women in their colleges. Soon after, Chile allowed women to enter its college educational system. On September 29, 1873, he went to Argentina and proposed a railroad system between Argentina and Chile. His proposal was accepted and the first locomotive was named after him.
Educator
In 1875, Hostos went to the Dominican Republic, where he founded, in Santo Domingo, the first Normal School (Teachers College) and introduced advanced teaching methods, although these had been openly opposed by the local Catholic Church; nonetheless, his response to these criticism was calm and constructive, as many of his writings reveal. In 1876, Hostos traveled to Venezuela and married Belinda Otilia de Ayala. Their maid of honor was renowned Puerto Rican poet Lola Rodríguez de Tió. He returned to the Dominican Republic in 1879 when the first Normal School was finally inaugurated. He was named director and he helped establish a second Normal School in the city of Santiago de los Caballeros.
Hostos returned to the U.S. in 1898 and actively participated in the Puerto Rican and Cuban independence movements; his hopes for Puerto Rico's independence, after the Spanish-American War turned into disappointment when the United States government rejected his proposals and instead converted the island into a U.S. Territory. In 1900, Hostos returned to the Dominican Republic, where he continued to play a major role in reorganizing the educational and railroad systems. He wrote many essays on social-science topics, such as: psychology, logic, literature, rights and is considered as one of the first systematic sociologists in Latin America. He was also known to be a supporter of women's rights. On November 8, 1903, Hostos died in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He is buried in the National Pantheon located in the colonial district of that city. Per his final wishes, his remains are to stay permanentely in the Dominican Republic until the day Puerto Rico is finally independent. Then and only then, does he want to be reinterred in his native homeland.
Honors and recognitions
In 1938, the 8th International Conference of America celebrated in Lima, Peru, posthumously paid tribute to Hostos and declared him "Citizen of the Americas and Teacher of the Youth". Puerto Rico declared his birthday an official holiday. There is a monument honoring Hostos in Spain. In Puerto Rico there are three monuments dedicated to Hostos, two in his native city of Mayagüez (a cultural center near his birthplace and a small plaza featuring a sculpture created by reowned sculptor Tomás Batista and another one in San Juan created by Jose Buscaglia Guillermety. The city of Mayagüez also named the airport in that city in his honor. In 1970, the City University of New York inaugurated Hostos Community College, located in the southern part of the Bronx. The school serves as a starting point for many students who wish to seek careers in such fields as dental hygiene, gerontology, and public administration.
Written works
- "La Peregrinacion de Bayoan" (1863)
- "Las doctrinas y los hombres" (1866)
- "El día de America"
- "Aychucho" (1870)
- "El Cholo" (1870)
- "La educacion cientifica de la mujer" (1873)
See also
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References
- Ainsa, Fernando. “Hostos y la unidad de América Latina: raíces históricas de una utopía necesaria”. Cuadernos Americanos 16 (1989): 67-88.
- Colón Zayas, Eliseo R. "La escritura ante la formación de la conciencia nacional La peregrinación de Bayoán de Eugenio María de Hostos". Revista Iberoamericana 140, Vol. 53 (1987): 627-634.
- Gutiérrez Laboy, Roberto. Eugenio María de Hostos Proyecto Ensayo Hispánico. Ed. José Luis Gómez-Martínez. Athens: University of Georgia.
- Mead, Jr., Robert G. "Montalvo, Hostos y ensayo latinoamericano". Hispania 39 (1956): 56-62. También en Perspectivas Americanas, Literatura y libertad. Nueva York: Las Américas, 1967; pp. 89-102.
- Ramos, Julio. Divergent Modernities: Culture and Politics in Nineteenth-Century Latin America. Tr. John D. Blanco. Durham: Duke University Press, 2001: 43-48.
- Sánchez, Luis Alberto. “Eugenio María de Hostos”. Escritores representativos de América. Tres vols. Primera serie. Segunda edicición. Madrid: Gredos, 1963: 2: 147-154.
- Villanueva Collado, Alfredo. "Eugenio María de Hostos ante el conflicto modernismo/modernidad". Revista Iberoamericana 162-163 (Enero-Junio 1993): 21-32.
- Waltzer, Hildreth N. The Inner Pilgrimage of Eugenio María de Hostos As Seen Through Bayoán. New York: Centro Pro Hostos de Nueva York, 2006.
- Ward, Thomas. "Four Days in November: The Peruvian Experience of Eugenio María de Hostos". Revista de Estudios Hispánicos 26.1-2 (2001): 89-104.
