14 Facts About Santiago Iglesias

Santiago Iglesias Pantin, was a Spanish-born Puerto Rican socialist and trade union activist.

Santiago Iglesias was born in A Coruna, Galicia, Spain, where he attended the common schools, and was apprenticed as a cabinet maker.

Santiago Iglesias subsequently moved to Puerto Rico, and was the founder and editor of three labor papers:.

Santiago Iglesias was a very active labor organizer in Puerto Rico and was often arrested and jailed for his activities.

Santiago Iglesias was considered American Federation of Labor president Samuel Gompers's ally on the island.

Santiago Iglesias served as secretary of the Pan-American Federation of Labor from 1925 to 1933.

Santiago Iglesias served in the 73rd, 74th, 75th, and 76th Congresses, from March 4,1933, until his death.

Santiago Iglesias served as a member of the first Senate of Puerto Rico in 1917, and reelected several times, until his election to Congress in 1932.

Santiago Iglesias pushed for many social reforms, many of which did become law, either as part of the PDP's reform agenda in the 1940s or as part of the Constitution of Puerto Rico in 1952.

Santiago Iglesias unsuccessfully pushed for legislation to enable Puerto Ricans to elect their own Governor, a concept that did not become law until 1947.

Santiago Iglesias was able to have Puerto Rico included in many New Deal assistance programs, including road construction, the Bankhead-Jones Act that enabled agricultural experimentation, the fight against malaria and the Jones Act exclusion regarding the taxation of shipping between Puerto Rico and other US ports.

Santiago Iglesias died in office in Washington, DC, on December 5,1939, and his body was returned home to Puerto Rico, where it lay in state at the Capitol.

Santiago Iglesias's body was interred in a tomb at Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Several of Santiago Iglesias's descendants have started a nonprofit charitable foundation to preserve and promote his legacy.