Federico Degetau
| Federico Degetau y González | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico | |
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In office March 4, 1901 – March 3, 1905 |
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| Succeeded by | Tulio Larrínaga |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 5, 1862 Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Died | January 20, 1914 (aged 51) San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Political party | Republican |
| Alma mater | Central University of Madrid |
| Occupation | attorney |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Federico Degetau y González (December 5, 1862 – February 20, 1914) was a Puerto Rican politician, lawyer, writer, author, and the first Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico to the United States House of Representatives.
Degetau was born in 1862 in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, where he also attended the common schools and the Central College of Ponce. His father was Mathias Degetau, son of a wealthy Hamburg, Germany, family. In Ponce his father Mathias managed the banks of the Overman and Dede House, of which his father, Otto Georg Christian Degetau (Federico's grandfather), was a partner. Federico's mother was María Consolación González, daughter of a respected San Juan family. His parents married in 1851.
He completed an academic course at Barcelona, Spain, and was graduated from the law department of the Central University of Madrid. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Madrid, Spain. He founded the newspaper La Isla de Puerto Rico to communicate the plight of Puerto Rico to the colonial power.
Degetau returned to Puerto Rico, and was one of the four commissioners sent by Puerto Rico under Luis Muñoz Rivera to petition Spain for autonomy in 1895. The petition was denied but a colonial-civil government was imposed by the U.S. Congress three years later as a result of the Spanish–American War. He settled in San Juan, Puerto Rico and continued to practice law.
Degetau was a member of the municipal council of San Juan in 1897, and mayor of San Juan in 1898. He was deputy to the Spanish Cortes Generales of 1898. After the Spanish–American War, he was appointed by the military governor General Guy Vernor Henry as the Secretary of the Interior in the first cabinet formed under American rule in Puerto Rico, in 1899. He was appointed by General Henry's successor, General George W. Davis, as a member of the Insular Board of Charities.
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