Hugo Margenat
Encyclopedia
Hugo Margenat was a Puerto Rican poet and Puerto Rican Independence advocate. His art was committed to serving a militant nationalistic agenda. He was the founder of the political youth pro-independence organizations "Acción Juventud Independentista" (Pro-independence Youth Action) and the "Federación de Universitarios Pro Independencia" (University Pro-Independence Federation of Puerto Rico).
which was full of political turmoil. The island, which Spain ceded to the United States after the Spanish-American War
was governed by an American appointed governor in accordance to the Treaty of Paris of 1898
. Puerto Ricans were denied the right to elect a Puerto Rican governor until 1949, when Luis Muñoz Marín
became the first Puerto Rican to be elected into said position.
and the local government which influenced Margenat's political views and his way of thinking. The Río Piedras massacre
on October 24, 1935, a confrontation with police at University of Puerto Rico
campus in Río Piedras, in which 4 Nationalist partisans and one policeman were killed. On February 23, 1936, two Nationalists named Hiram Rosado and Elías Beauchamp, were arrested, transported to police headquarters, and executed within hours without trial for the murder of U.S. appointed Police Chief Francis Riggs. No policeman was ever tried or indicted for their deaths. On March 21, 1937, a peaceful march organized in the southern city of Ponce
by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party turned into a bloody event when the Insular Police ("a force somewhat resembling the National Guard of the typical U.S. state" and which answered to the U.S.-appointed governor Blanton Winship) opened fire upon what a U.S. Congressman and others reported were unarmed and defenseless cadets and bystanders alike killing 19 and badly wounding over 200 more, many in their backs while running away. An ACLU report declared it a massacre and it has since been known as the Ponce massacre
. The march had been organized to commemorate the ending of slavery in Puerto Rico by the governing Spanish National Assembly in 1873, and to protest the incarceration by the U.S. government of nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos
. Soon thereafter, the leadership of the Nationalist party, including Pedro Albizu Campos
, were arrested and incarcerated for conspiracy to overthrow the government of the United States. On June 11, 1948, the U.S.-appointed governor of Puerto Rico, Jesús T. Piñero
, under pressure from the United States signed the infamous "Ley de la Mordaza" (Gag Law) or Law 53 as it was officially known, passed by the Puerto Rican legislature which made it illegal to display the Puerto Rican flag
, sing a patriotic song, talk of independence, or to fight for the liberation of the Island. It resembled the anti-communist Smith Law
passed in the United States.
. Those who were eligible and who did not volunteer into the military were drafted (conscription
) as a result of the Jones-Shafroth Act
. Among those who were drafted into the United States Army
against his wishes was 18 year old Margenat. During his tour of duty he witnessed that Puerto Ricans suffered high casualties and that there were communication problems between largely white, English-speaking officers and Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican enlisted men. To this effect he wrote the poem "Mundo abierto" (Open world) in 1956 where he also makes reference to the bombardment of the town of Jayuya by the military during Jayuya Uprising
led by Nationalist leader Blanca Canales
, one of the many nationalist revolts
which occurred in Puerto Rico on October 30, 1950.
In 1956, Margenat enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras. He continued his political activism during his student years and in April founded the pro-independence organization "Acción Juventud Independentista" (Pro-independence Youth Action) which he presided and in October of that same year he founded another pro-independence organization, "Federación de Universitarios Pro Independencia
" (FUPI) (University Pro-Independence Federation of Puerto Rico) and served as its vice president. His father, Alfredo Margenat became concerned of the younger Margenat's political activism and warned him that his actions may have a negative effect on his university education and his future as a poet, writer and citizen. However, with due time the senior Margenat was to become an admirer of his sons commitments.
a nonhuman thing or quality is talked about as if it were human, by Handbook of Literary Terms. The following is a selected list of some of his poems.
in his house in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was buried at the Cementerio Municipal (Municipal Cemetery) San Jose in Villa Palmeras Santurce
, Puerto Rico. In 1957, poet Ana Hilda Garrastegui Pellicia wrote a poem about Margenat titled "Siete Poemas a Hugo Margenat" His mother María Cristina Mediavilla, donated a collection of his written works to the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture which, under the direction of Puerto Rican poet José Manuel Torres Santiago, were published in 1974 under the title "Obras Completas" (Complete Works). Torres Santiago produced a recording of the poems with the voice of Margenat. Among the books written about Margenat are "Hugo Margenat: poeta agónico" by Dr. Ramón Felipe Medina and "Extinguished lamp: letters to Hugo Margenat, Puerto Rican poet, 1933-1957" by John Ridland. His poems have served as the inspiration for various songs, among are Puerto Rican singer Roy Brown
's "Al frente (Hugo Margenat - Roy Brown)" which was recorded in the album "Roy Brown III". and Miguel Cubano's "Vendrás (Hugo Margenat - Miguel Cubano)" recorded in the album "Aires bucaneros"
Early years
Margenat lived during an era in Puerto RicoPuerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
which was full of political turmoil. The island, which Spain ceded to the United States after the Spanish-American War
Puerto Rican Campaign
The Puerto Rican Campaign was an American military sea and land operation on the island of Puerto Rico during the Spanish–American War. The offensive began on May 12, 1898, when the United States Navy attacked the archipelago’s capital, San Juan. Though the damage inflicted on the city was minimal,...
was governed by an American appointed governor in accordance to the Treaty of Paris of 1898
Treaty of Paris (1898)
The Treaty of Paris of 1898 was signed on December 10, 1898, at the end of the Spanish-American War, and came into effect on April 11, 1899, when the ratifications were exchanged....
. Puerto Ricans were denied the right to elect a Puerto Rican governor until 1949, when Luis Muñoz Marín
Luis Muñoz Marín
Don José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and politician. Regarded as the "father of modern Puerto Rico," he was the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. Muñoz Marín was the son of Luis Muñoz Rivera, a renowned autonomist leader...
became the first Puerto Rican to be elected into said position.
Influential political events
Various events took place in Puerto Rico during the 1930s thru the 1950s, involving the Puerto Rican Nationalist PartyPuerto Rican Nationalist Party
The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party was founded on September 17, 1922. Its main objective is to work for Puerto Rican Independence.In 1919, José Coll y Cuchí, a member of the Union Party of Puerto Rico, felt that the Union Party was not doing enough for the cause of Puerto Rican independence and he...
and the local government which influenced Margenat's political views and his way of thinking. The Río Piedras massacre
Río Piedras massacre
The Río Piedras massacre occurred at the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, and involved a confrontation between local police officers and supporters of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party on October 24, 1935...
on October 24, 1935, a confrontation with police at University of Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...
campus in Río Piedras, in which 4 Nationalist partisans and one policeman were killed. On February 23, 1936, two Nationalists named Hiram Rosado and Elías Beauchamp, were arrested, transported to police headquarters, and executed within hours without trial for the murder of U.S. appointed Police Chief Francis Riggs. No policeman was ever tried or indicted for their deaths. On March 21, 1937, a peaceful march organized in the southern city of Ponce
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party turned into a bloody event when the Insular Police ("a force somewhat resembling the National Guard of the typical U.S. state" and which answered to the U.S.-appointed governor Blanton Winship) opened fire upon what a U.S. Congressman and others reported were unarmed and defenseless cadets and bystanders alike killing 19 and badly wounding over 200 more, many in their backs while running away. An ACLU report declared it a massacre and it has since been known as the Ponce massacre
Ponce massacre
The Ponce massacre occurred on 21 March 1937 when a peaceful march in Ponce, Puerto Rico, by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party commemorating the ending of slavery in Puerto Rico by the governing Spanish National Assembly in 1873, and coinciding with a protest against the incarceration by the...
. The march had been organized to commemorate the ending of slavery in Puerto Rico by the governing Spanish National Assembly in 1873, and to protest the incarceration by the U.S. government of nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos
Pedro Albizu Campos
Don Pedro Albizu Campos was a Puerto Rican politician and one of the leading figures in the Puerto Rican independence movement. He was the leader and president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party from 1930 until his death...
. Soon thereafter, the leadership of the Nationalist party, including Pedro Albizu Campos
Pedro Albizu Campos
Don Pedro Albizu Campos was a Puerto Rican politician and one of the leading figures in the Puerto Rican independence movement. He was the leader and president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party from 1930 until his death...
, were arrested and incarcerated for conspiracy to overthrow the government of the United States. On June 11, 1948, the U.S.-appointed governor of Puerto Rico, Jesús T. Piñero
Jesus T. Piñero
Jesús Toribio Piñero Jiménez was the first native Puerto Rican to be appointed governor of Puerto Rico by the Government of the United States.-Early years:...
, under pressure from the United States signed the infamous "Ley de la Mordaza" (Gag Law) or Law 53 as it was officially known, passed by the Puerto Rican legislature which made it illegal to display the Puerto Rican flag
Flag of Puerto Rico
The flags of Puerto Rico represent and symbolize the island and people of Puerto Rico. The most commonly used flags of Puerto Rico are the current flag, which represents the people of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico; municipal flags, which represent the different regions of the island; political...
, sing a patriotic song, talk of independence, or to fight for the liberation of the Island. It resembled the anti-communist Smith Law
Smith Act
The Alien Registration Act or Smith Act of 1940 is a United States federal statute that set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S...
passed in the United States.
Nationalism
At a young age Margenat became a follower of Pedro Albizu Campos and the ideals of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. In 1950, Puerto Ricans were sent by the United States War Department to fight in the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. Those who were eligible and who did not volunteer into the military were drafted (conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
) as a result of the Jones-Shafroth Act
Jones-Shafroth Act
The Jones–Shafroth Act was a 1917 Act of the United States Congress by which Puerto Ricans were collectively made U.S. citizens, the people of Puerto Rico were empowered to have a popularly-elected Senate, established a bill of rights, and authorized the election of a Resident Commissioner to a...
. Among those who were drafted into the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
against his wishes was 18 year old Margenat. During his tour of duty he witnessed that Puerto Ricans suffered high casualties and that there were communication problems between largely white, English-speaking officers and Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican enlisted men. To this effect he wrote the poem "Mundo abierto" (Open world) in 1956 where he also makes reference to the bombardment of the town of Jayuya by the military during Jayuya Uprising
Jayuya Uprising
The Jayuya Uprising, also known as the Jayuya Revolt or El Grito de Jayuya, refers to a nationalist revolt in the town of Jayuya, Puerto Rico which occurred on October 30, 1950...
led by Nationalist leader Blanca Canales
Blanca Canales
Blanca Canales Torresola was a Puerto Rican nationalist leader. Canales may possibly have been the first woman to have led a revolt against the United States when she led the The Jayuya Uprising.-Early years:...
, one of the many nationalist revolts
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s
The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s was a call for independence and uprising by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party against United States Government rule of Puerto Rico and against the approval of the creation of the political status "Free Associated State" for Puerto Rico which...
which occurred in Puerto Rico on October 30, 1950.
In 1956, Margenat enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras. He continued his political activism during his student years and in April founded the pro-independence organization "Acción Juventud Independentista" (Pro-independence Youth Action) which he presided and in October of that same year he founded another pro-independence organization, "Federación de Universitarios Pro Independencia
University Pro-Independence Federation of Puerto Rico
The University Pro-Independence Federation of Puerto Rico is an organization of students primarily studying at the University of Puerto Rico founded in October 1956, by Puerto Rican poet and nationalist Hugo Margenat...
" (FUPI) (University Pro-Independence Federation of Puerto Rico) and served as its vice president. His father, Alfredo Margenat became concerned of the younger Margenat's political activism and warned him that his actions may have a negative effect on his university education and his future as a poet, writer and citizen. However, with due time the senior Margenat was to become an admirer of his sons commitments.
Written works
Margenat's written works broke with the metaphysical approach of the transcendentalist poets who dominated the literary scene in the 1940s. His poem "Living Poetry" is cited and used as an example of the poetic term "Personification", a kind of metaphor in whicha nonhuman thing or quality is talked about as if it were human, by Handbook of Literary Terms. The following is a selected list of some of his poems.
- Primeros poemas (Vislumbres) (1950–1951) "First poems"
- Breves palabras de las horas prietas (1952–1953) "Brief words of the dark hours"
- Estancia Oscura (1952–1957) "Dark stay"
- Vibraciones de aire y tierra (1953–1954) "Vibrations of air and earth"
- Ventana hacia lo último (1953–1956) "Window toward the last thing"
- Lámpara apagada (1954) "Extinguished lamp"
- Intemperie (1955) "Elements"
- Mundo abierto (1956) "Open world"
- Erosavia
- Las horas de la tierra "The hours of the land"
- Tres voces de la sangre "Three voices of the blood"
- Llama de cielo roto "Flames of the broken sky"
- Los brazos y el mundo (1933–1957) "The arms and the world"
Legacy
On April 7, 1957 Margenat at the age of 24 years old died of Tuberculous meningitisTuberculous meningitis
Tuberculous meningitis is also known as TB meningitis or tubercular meningitis.Tuberculous meningitis is Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection of the meninges—the system of membranes which envelops the central nervous system. It is the most common form of CNS tuberculosis.-Clinical features:Fever...
in his house in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was buried at the Cementerio Municipal (Municipal Cemetery) San Jose in Villa Palmeras Santurce
Santurce
Santurce can refer to:*Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico, a district of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico*Santurtzi, a town near Bilbao, the Basque Country, Spain...
, Puerto Rico. In 1957, poet Ana Hilda Garrastegui Pellicia wrote a poem about Margenat titled "Siete Poemas a Hugo Margenat" His mother María Cristina Mediavilla, donated a collection of his written works to the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture which, under the direction of Puerto Rican poet José Manuel Torres Santiago, were published in 1974 under the title "Obras Completas" (Complete Works). Torres Santiago produced a recording of the poems with the voice of Margenat. Among the books written about Margenat are "Hugo Margenat: poeta agónico" by Dr. Ramón Felipe Medina and "Extinguished lamp: letters to Hugo Margenat, Puerto Rican poet, 1933-1957" by John Ridland. His poems have served as the inspiration for various songs, among are Puerto Rican singer Roy Brown
Roy Brown (Puerto Rican musician)
Roy Brown Ramírez is a composer, singer and a fervent believer in the cause for the independence of Puerto Rico. Some of his songs have been performed by several renowned international artists.- Early years :...
's "Al frente (Hugo Margenat - Roy Brown)" which was recorded in the album "Roy Brown III". and Miguel Cubano's "Vendrás (Hugo Margenat - Miguel Cubano)" recorded in the album "Aires bucaneros"
Further reading
- "Hugo Margenat: poeta agónico"; by: Dr. Ramón Felipe Medina, Publishwe: Institite of Puerto Rican Culture; San Juan, PR. Ediciones y Taller Ciba, 2006.
- "Obras Completas"; Author:Hugo Margenat; Publisher: Instituto De Cultura Puertorriquena; ISBN/UPC: ZZ000EUEGE
- "Extinguished lamp: letters to Hugo Margenat, Puerto Rican poet, 1933-1957 (Into the teeth of the wind)"; by: John Ridland; Publisher: College of Creative Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara (2000); ASIN: B0006S3VL6
See also
- Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950sPuerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950sThe Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s was a call for independence and uprising by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party against United States Government rule of Puerto Rico and against the approval of the creation of the political status "Free Associated State" for Puerto Rico which...
- List of famous Puerto Ricans
- List of Puerto Rican writers
- Puerto Rican literature