Manuel V. Domenech Ferrer | |
---|---|
Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico | |
In office 1904–1904 |
|
Preceded by | Antonio Arias |
Succeeded by | Luis P. Valdivieso |
Personal details | |
Born |
Isabela, Puerto Rico |
March 23, 1869
Died | 1942 (aged 72–73) San Juan, San Juan |
Political party | Republican |
Alma mater | Lehigh University |
Profession | Politician, Architect |
Manuel V. Domenech Ferrer (March 23, 1869 – March 15, 1942) was a Puerto Rican politician and engineer.
Domenech was born in Isabela, Puerto Rico. He graduated from Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, United States, 1888. Domenech was also educated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Rensselaer was instrumental in the education of Domenech because above it was the first polytechnic university in the United States and promoted the use of the most advanced resources in engineering and architecture. It was also located in Troy, New York, an area that was experiencing a great amount of growth and architectural transformation that included bridges, buildings, and private homes, just as Mr. Domenech was studying there. Lehigh University, on the other hand, is located in Pennsylvania, a state that was experiencing a most accelerated development in modernistic architecture at the time when the future architect studied there.
When Domenech returned to Puerto Rico, he became a prominent architect as well as a prominent politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1900 to 1902. He was mayor of Ponce in 1904. In 1914 he was named Commissioner in the U.S. Department of the Interior. Later he was Treasurer of Puerto Rico, from 1930 to 1935. In various occasions he also served as Interim Governor of Puerto Rico.
During 1904, he served as Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico. In 1914, he was appointed to serve as Puerto Rico's Commissioner of the Interior, becoming one of the first Puerto Ricans to hold a presidentially-appointed Puerto Rico Cabinet position. He was subsequently appointed as Treasurer of Puerto Rico, a position he held from 1930 to 1935.
Domenech attended the 1928 Republican National Convention as an alternate delegate. His great grand nephew, Francisco Domenech, is also active in contemporary politics, but in the Democratic Party, where he serves as a so-called "superdelegate". Another relative, Douglas Domenech, his grand nephew, served as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the United States Department of the Interior and a Bush appointee to the White House Task Force on Puerto Rico's Political Status and later served as Secretary of Natural Resources of the Commonwealth of Virginia.