Felisa Rincón de Gautier
| Felisa Rincón de Gautier | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico | |
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In office January 2, 1947 – January 2, 1969 |
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| Preceded by | Roberto Sánchez Vilella |
| Succeeded by | Carlos Romero Barceló |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 9, 1897 Ceiba, Puerto Rico |
| Died | September 16, 1994 (aged 97) San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Political party | Popular Democratic Party |
| Spouse(s) | Genaro A. Gautier |
| Profession | Pharmacist |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Felisa Rincón de Gautier (also known as Doña Fela) (January 9, 1897 – September 16, 1994) was the first woman to be elected as the Mayor of a capital city in The Americas.
Rincón de Gautier was born on January 9, 1897 in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. The oldest of all siblings (Felisa, Josefina, Cecilia, Esilda, Ramon, Rafael, Enrique and Rita), she was politically influenced by her father, attorney Enrique Rincón Plumey, family of an earlier Mayor of Yabucoa. Her mother, teacher Rita Marrero Rivera, died when she was around 11 years old. However, her father was determined to give her the best education possible. She went to school in Fajardo, Humacao and Santurce although she did not graduate from high school; in the summers she visited her uncle in San Lorenzo where she learned how to prepare medications pharmacy and became a pharmacist.
After her mother died, her father married Mercedes Acha, the mother of her half brother Manuel. Felisa ran the household and raised her younger brothers and sisters.
In the early 20th Century, "there was no welfare on the island; no social department to provide money or clothing or food for the poor (but) no jibaro would let another jibaro starve. This was the most important truth she learned. The jibaros were a people steeped in tradition, the noblest of which was their hospitality" (Ruth Gruber, Felisa Rincon de Gautier: The Mayor of San Juan).
An expert seamstress, Felisa set herself the goal of creating employment in Puerto Rico by launching a local clothing factory. In order to master necessary skills she worked for two years in New York City during the Great Depression, living with relatives including her sister, Josefina.
Upon her return to San Juan, she entered the wholesale/retail business and opened Felis's Style Shop on Fortaleza Street in Old San Juan. She also managed a flower shop called Miles de Flores. Throughout her lifetime, she remained closely tied to the Roman Catholic Church as she directed her efforts to raising the standards of living for impoverished Puerto Ricans.
Rincón de Gautier was a firm believer in the women's right to vote and was an active participant in the suffragist movement, motivating many women to register. When the law allowing women to vote was passed, Rincón de Gautier was the fifth woman to officially register. In 1932, she joined the Liberal Party of Puerto Rico, which believed in Puerto Rico's independence, and was named representative by the party's president Antonio R. Barceló. Motivated by the political ideas of Luis Muñoz Marín, she left the Liberal Party and in 1938 helped organize the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico.
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