Eugenio María de Hostos

Infobox writer
name = Eugenio María de Hostos


imagesize = 150px
caption = Eugenio María de Hosto
pseudonym =
birthname = Eugenio María de Hostos y Bonilla
birthdate = January 11, 1839
birthplace = Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
deathdate = death date and age|1903|8|11|1839|1|11
deathplace = Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
occupation = educator, philosopher, national activist
nationality = Puerto Rican
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notableworks =
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Eugenio María de Hostos (January 11, 1839 – August 11, 1903) known as "El Ciudadano de las Americas" (The Citizen of the Americas), was a Puerto Rican educator, philosopher, intellectual, lawyer, sociologist and independence advocate.

Early years

Hostos (birth name: Eugenio María de Hostos y Bonilla) was born into a well-to-do family in the Barrio "Río Cañas" of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. 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). [http://www.hostos.cuny.edu/about/hostos.html Short Biography on Hostos] ]

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. [http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/hostos.html Hostos y Bonilla] ]

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. [http://www.hostos.cuny.edu/about/hostos.html Short Biography on Hostos] ]

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. [http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/hostos.html Hostos y Bonilla] ]

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. [http://www.hostos.cuny.edu/about/hostos.html Short Biography on Hostos] ]

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. [http://www.hostos.cuny.edu/about/hostos.html Short Biography on Hostos] ]

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. [http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/hostos.html Hostos y Bonilla] ]

Later years

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. [ [http://www.hostos.cuny.edu/library/Hostos%20Page/Biography/BIOGRAPHY_by_hernandez_eng.htm Biography] ]

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. Hostos wrote his own epitaph: [http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/hostos.html Hostos y Bonilla] ]

"I wish that they will say: In that island (Puerto Rico) a man was born who loved truth, desired justice, and worked for the good of men."

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 two monuments dedicated to Hostos:
* One sculpture created by reowned sculptor Tomás Batista located into a small plaza at side of Highway #2 in the northern entrance of his native city of Mayagüez. (There an local grassroots movement claiming relocalization of this statue to more centrical place.)
* Another one created by Jose Buscaglia Guillermety. Recently, located inside the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus in San Juan.

The Municipality of Mayagüez had inaugurated a cultural center and museum near his birthplace in Río Cañas Arriba ward. The city of Mayagüez also have named in his honor:
* A High School building inaugurated in 1954
* A Highway (now Avenue) in 1961
* The former El Maní Airport in 1986.

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. [ [http://www.hostos.cuny.edu Official Webpage of Eugenio M. Hostos Community College] ]

In 1995, the Eugenio María de Hostos School of Law was established in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The Hostos Law School aspires to achieve the development of a legal professional that is also responsive to the needs of his or her communities and embraces Hostos educational philosophy. [www.hostos.edu] There was also a Junior High school in Brooklyn, New York named after Hostos named Eugenio Maria De Hostos I.S 318. There is also a High school named Eugenio Maria De Hostos in Union City, New Jersey.

Written works

* "La Peregrinación de Bayoán" (1863)
* "Las doctrinas y los hombres" (1866)
* "El día de América"
* "Ayacucho" (1870)
* "El cholo" (1870)
* "La educación científica de la mujer" (1873)

ee also

*List of Puerto Rican writers
*List of famous Puerto Ricans
*Puerto Rican literature

References

Further reading

*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.
*Ward, Thomas. "Four Days in November: The Peruvian Experience of Eugenio María de Hostos". "Revista de Estudios Hispánicos" 26.1-2 (2001): 89-104.

External links

* [http://www.prfaa.com/eng/FamousPR.asp?id=222 Official Biography from the Puerto Rican Federal Affairs Office Website]
* [http://www.hostos.cuny.edu/about/hostos.html Short Biography on Hostos]
* [http://www.hostos.cuny.edu Official Webpage of Eugenio M. Hostos Community College]
* [http://www.femdh.org.do/ Webpage of the "Eugenio Maria de Hostos foundation"]