Santiago Iglesias Pantín
| Santiago Iglesias Pantín | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the Puerto Rico Senate from the district |
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In office 1917–1933 |
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| Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico | |
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In office 4 March 1933 – 5 December 1939 |
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| Preceded by | José Lorenzo Pesquera |
| Succeeded by | Bolívar Pagán |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
February 22, 1872 A Coruña, Galicia, Spain |
| Died | December 5, 1939 (aged 67) Washington, DC, USA |
| Political party | Socialist |
| Occupation | Politician, Labor organizer, Cabinet maker. |
Santiago Iglesias Pantín (February 22, 1872 – December 5, 1939), a supporter of statehood for Puerto Rico, was the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the U.S. Congress from 1933 to 1939, a period that saw significant political turbulence in Puerto Rico, both by Puerto Ricans seeking more freedom and autonomy, and by the military governor in the Island, Blanton Winship, seeking to clamp down on those seeking autonomy and independence.
Santiago Iglesias was born in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain, where he attended the common schools, and was apprenticed as a cabinet maker. At a young age he stowed away on a ship which landed in Cuba. There he organized workers and, beginning in 1889 was secretary of the Workingmen Trades Circle in Havana.
Iglesias subsequently moved to Puerto Rico, and was the founder and editor of three labor papers:
He was a very active labor organizer in Puerto Rico and was often arrested and jailed for his activities, and was considered American Federation of Labor (AFL) president Samuel Gompers' ally on the island. In fact, Gompers appointed him general organizer of the American Federation of Labor for the districts of Puerto Rico and Cuba in 1901.
In 1915, he founded the Puerto Rico's Socialist Party, a pro-statehood, pro-labor party (not to be confused with the Puerto Rican Socialist Party founded in the 1970s). His Socialist Party, unlike its namesake, did elect its candidates to elective office during many elections.
He also served as secretary of the Pan-American Federation of Labor from 1925 to 1933. In 1936, he was wounded during an assassination attempt by Puerto Rican Nationalist Party partisans.
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