Albizu Campos, Pedro
Albizu Campos, Pedro
(pā`drō älbē`so͞o käm`pōs), 1891–1965, Puerto Rican political leader. After service in an African-American unit during World War I he developed a lasting enmity for the United States and became the fiery champion of Puerto Rican independence. His Nationalist party, however, failed to receive popular support in the Puerto Rican elections of 1932. Convicted of seeking to overthrow the U.S. government, he was imprisoned (1937–43) before returning to Puerto Rico in 1947. His party made a poor showing in the 1948 election, and in 1950 Nationalists attacked the governor's mansion in Puerto Rico and Blair House in Washington. Charged with inciting to murder, Albizu Campos was again imprisoned. He was pardoned (1953) because of failing health, but the next year he was implicated in the Nationalist armed attack on the U.S. House of Representatives, and his pardon was revoked. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. He suffered a stroke in 1956 and was again pardoned in 1964.Albizu Campos, Pedro
Born Sept. 12, 1893, in Ponce; died Apr. 21, 1965, in San Juan. Figure in the national liberation movement of Puerto Rico.
In 1921, Albizu Campos graduated from Harvard University Law School, where he had actively participated in the student movement. Upon returning to Puerto Rico, he became one of the founders of the Nationalist Party (1922), whose aim was to fight for the independence of Puerto Rico. In 1930 he became chairman of the Nationalist Party, and in the mid-1930’s he organized a number of actions against the American administration on the island. In 1936 he was arrested and convicted on the charge of leading “a subversive organization.” After he was released from prison in 1947, he again joined in the active struggle for the independence of his homeland. In 1950 he was arrested a second time and was sentenced to long-term imprisonment and hard labor.
A. P. MOSKALENKO