Editing Luis A. Ferré

{{short description|Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico}}
{{family name hatnote|Ferré|Aguayo|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Luis Ferré
| image               = Luis A. Ferré.jpg
| office              = 8th [[President of the Puerto Rico Senate]]
| term_start          = January 1977
| term_end            = January 1981
| predecessor         = [[Juan J. Cancel Ríos]]
| successor           = [[Miguel Hernández Agosto]]
| office1             = [[Governor of Puerto Rico]]
| term_start1         = January 2, 1969
| term_end1           = January 2, 1973
| predecessor1        = [[Roberto Sánchez Vilella]]
| successor1          = [[Rafael Hernández Colón]]
| birth_name          = Luis Alberto Ferré-Aguayo
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1904|2|17}}
| birth_place         = [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]], [[Insular Government of Porto Rico|Porto Rico]] (now [[Puerto Rico]])
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2003|10|21|1904|2|17}}
| death_place         = [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]]
| resting_place       = Cementerio Las Mercedes in Ponce, Puerto Rico
| party               = {{plainlist|
* [[Partido Estadista Republicano|Republican Statehood]] (before 1967)
* [[New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico|New Progressive]] (1967–2003)}}
| otherparty          = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Lorenza Ramírez de Arellano]]|1931|1970|end=died}}
* {{marriage|Tiody De Jesús|1980}}}}
| children            = {{ubl|
* [[Rosario Ferré|Rosario]]
* [[Antonio Luis Ferré|Antonio]]}}
| education           = {{plainlist|
* [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]], [[Master of Science|MS]])
* [[New England Conservatory of Music]]}}
}}
[[Don (honorific)|Don]]<ref>[https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/10/20041020.html Statement on Don Luis Ferre by President George W. Bush] - website of [[The White House]]</ref> '''Luis Alberto Ferré Aguayo''' (February 17, 1904{{spaced ndash}} October 21, 2003) was a [[Puerto Ricans|Puerto Rican]] engineer, [[industrialist]], politician, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. He was the [[governor of Puerto Rico]] from 1969 to 1973. He was the founder of the [[New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico|New Progressive Party]], which advocates for [[Puerto Rico]] to become a state of the United States of America. He is a recipient of the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]].

[[File:Don Luis A. Ferré.jpg|thumb|Hand-etched portrait over black granite by artist Osvaldo Torres at Cruzacalles, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.]]

==Early life==
Luis Alberto Ferré Aguayo was born in the southern city of [[Ponce, Puerto Rico]] on February 17, 1904. Ferré's grandfather Maurice Ferré Perotín was a French engineer who was involved in the construction of the [[Panama Canal]] before settling in [[Cuba]].<ref name="MIT"/> Ferré's father, Antonio Ferré Bagayado or "Bacallao", was born in [[Havana]], Cuba and grew up there.<ref name="Memoir">[https://books.google.com/books?id=RWniCgAAQBAJ&dq=Luis+Alberto+Ferr%C3%A9+Aguayo++grandfather+french&pg=PA15 Memoir] By Rosario Ferré</ref> As a young man he immigrated to Puerto Rico, where he founded the company [[Puerto Rico Iron Works]], in Barrio [[Playa (Ponce)|Playa de Ponce]], Ponce, Puerto Rico.<ref name="MIT">{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2003/ferre-1029.html|title=Luis Ferré, former governor and Corporation member|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|date=October 29, 2003|access-date=October 1, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.elboricua.com/PresidentialMedalofFreedom.html|title=El Boricua, a bilingual, cultural publication for Puerto Ricans|website=www.elboricua.com}}</ref> In Puerto Rico, Antonio Ferré met and married María Aguayo Casals, a cousin of both [[Catalonia|Catalan]] cellist [[Pablo Casals]] (whose [[Pilar Defilló Amiguet|mother]] was a Puerto Rico-born Catalan musician) and Carmelita Defilló Sanz (wife to Dominican politician and historian [[Manuel Arturo Peña Batlle]] and mother of Dominican paintist [[Fernando Peña Defilló]]).<ref name="MIT"/> Antonio and María had four sons, Luis, [[José Ferré|José]], Carlos and Hermán Ferré, and two daughters, Rosario and [[Isolina Ferré|Isolina]]; the latter would become a nun of international prominence.<ref name="MIT"/>

Ferré studied [[mechanical engineering]] at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], obtaining his bachelor's degree in 1924 and master's degree in 1925, and music at the [[New England Conservatory of Music]]. While at MIT he was part of the Army ROTC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/puertorico/luis-ferre-obituary.htm|title=Former Puerto Rican Gov. Luis A. Ferré dies|publisher=The Miami Herald|date=October 22, 2003|access-date=October 1, 2007}}</ref> While living in Boston, Ferré developed an admiration for the "American way of democracy".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/americas/10/21/obit.ferre.ap/|title=Luis Ferre, prominent Puerto Rican figure, dies|publisher=CNN|date=October 21, 2003|access-date=October 13, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080412032809/http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/americas/10/21/obit.ferre.ap/ <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = April 12, 2008}}</ref>

==Industrialist==
Upon his return to [[Puerto Rico]], Ferré helped transform his father's company into a successful business from which he earned a fortune. In 1948, he acquired ''[[El Nuevo Día|El Día]],'' a fledgling newspaper that was later renamed ''El Nuevo Día,'' which became the newspaper with the largest circulation in Puerto Rico at the time. In the 1950s, Ferré's ''Empresas Ferré'' (Ferre Enterprises) acquired Puerto Rico Cement and [[Ponce Cement]], which capitalized on the economic boom which Puerto Rico enjoyed based on the ambitious industrialization projects undertaken in association with the [[Operation Bootstrap]]. Ferré's brother, José, had moved to Miami with his family. His son [[Maurice Ferré|Maurice]] expanded a successful business there, selling bagged pre-mixed cement and sand under the name Mezcla Lista. Maurice Ferré was elected Mayor of Miami.

==Political life==
Ferré became active in politics in the 1940s. He unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Ponce in 1940 and [[Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico]] in 1948.

===Representative===
In 1948, Puerto Ricans were allowed to elect their governor; previously the position was filled by appointment by the United States president. [[Luis Muñoz Marín]] was elected governor of Puerto Rico. A movement began which aimed to adopt a [[Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)|commonwealth]] relationship with the United States of America. In 1951, a [[referendum]] was held to decide whether to approve or not the option granted by the [[United States Congress]] to draft Puerto Rico's first constitution. Ferré abstained from participating in the process; the pro-statehood party to which he belonged favored the 1951 [[referendum]]. He believed that the process would mean "an acceptance of a colony and condemn the people to a perpetual condition of second class citizenship". Ferré later participated in the constitutional assembly created by the [[referendum]], which drafted the constitution.<ref name="Univision">{{cite web|url=http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?chid=3&schid=0&secid=0&cid=281161|title=Falleció el ex gobernador Luis A. Ferré|date=October 22, 2003|publisher=Univision|language=es|access-date=October 13, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051109151741/http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?chid=3&schid=0&secid=0&cid=281161|archive-date=November 9, 2005}}</ref>

In 1952 the [[Constitution of Puerto Rico]] was adopted, renaming the body politic of the territory of Puerto Rico as the [[Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)|Commonwealth]] of [[Puerto Rico]]. Ferré was elected as a member of the [[Constitution of Puerto Rico|Constitutional Assembly]]. That same year Ferré was elected representative in the [[Puerto Rico]] House of Representatives. He ran under the [[Republican Statehood Party]] ("Partido Estadista Republicano") and officially assumed his duties as representative on January 11, 1953.
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===Governor and Senator===
On July 23, 1967, a [[plebiscite]] was held to decide if the people of [[Puerto Rico]] desired to become an independent nation, a state of the United States of America, or continue the [[Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)|commonwealth]] relation established in 1952. The majority of [[Puerto Rico|Puerto Ricans]] opted for the [[Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)|Commonwealth]] option (see [[1967 Puerto Rican status referendum|Puerto Rican status referendums]]). Disagreement within the then pro-statehood party{{which|date=March 2019}}{{vague|date=March 2019}} headed by [[Miguel A. García Méndez]] led Ferré and others to found the [[New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico|New Progressive Party]] (a.k.a., PNP).

In the following general election in 1968, Ferré ran for [[Governor of Puerto Rico|Governor]] and defeated Luis Negrón López, the candidate of the [[Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico|Popular Democratic Party]] (PPD) by a slight margin. The ruling party had split with the creation of the [[People's Party (Puerto Rico)|People's Party]], which ran incumbent PDP-elected Governor Roberto Sánchez Vilella as its gubernatorial candidate, ending [[Luis Muñoz Marín]]'s PPD's hold on the governor's seat, which had lasted 20 years.

During Ferré's administration, Puerto Rico was in an economic boom at 7% GDP growth and the unemployment at 10%. His work as governor of Puerto Rico included defending the federal minimum wage and granting workers a Christmas bonus. He visited [[Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican]] troops in [[Vietnam]]. In 1970, his first wife, Lorencita, died at La Fortaleza after being bed-ridden for years. Their daughter, [[Rosario Ferré]], an acclaimed novelist and writer, stepped into the role of [[First Lady]].

During his governorship, he paid special attention to youth affairs and bringing young Puerto Ricans into public service. He successfully had the Puerto Rico Constitution amended to lower the voting age to 18, strongly supported the New Progressive Party Youth organization as party president, appointed then-young statehooders such as [[Antonio Quiñones Calderón]] and [[Francisco "Pompi" González]] to high-level administration jobs, campaigned for a 26-year-old at large House candidate, nominated a future Senate President and Secretary of State, teenager [[Kenneth McClintock]] as Puerto Rico delegate to the 1971 [[White House Conference on Youth]], and strengthened college scholarship programs.

Before the Congress created the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] in 1971, Ferré had already created Puerto Rico's [[Environmental Quality Board]] in 1970,<ref>[http://www.gobierno.pr/JCA/Inicio/ Inicio] gobierno.pr {{dead link|date=February 2024}}</ref> charged with protecting the islands' environment.

In the elections of 1972 he sought reelection but lost to [[Rafael Hernández Colón]] of the PPD. The PPD had claimed that many corruption scandals had been overlooked by the Ferré administration. A bloody student strike at the [[University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras]] in 1971 had been neutralized by the Puerto Rican police using brute force, something about which Ferré had mixed feelings. Hernández emphasized his youth during the campaign, and became the youngest Puerto Rican governor upon election. All these issues, along with the reunification of the People's Party and the PPD, contributed to a PPD win over Ferré in the election.

Ferré remained active in politics and in 1976, he was elected to the [[Senate of Puerto Rico]]. Ferré served as the eighth president of the Senate from 1977 to 1981 and continued serving as senator until 1985.

Years after leaving La Fortaleza, he married Tiody De Jesús, a nurse who later became a physician.

After serving as senator, Ferré continued to be active in politics, especially representing the [[United States Republican Party]] on the island. Between 1989 and 1991, Ferré served with former Governor [[Carlos Romero Barceló]], former representative [[Benny Frankie Cerezo]], PNP leader [[Kenneth McClintock]] and former congressional staffer [[David Gerken]] as the New Progressive Party's negotiating team while Congress considered Puerto Rico political status legislation introduced by Senator [[J. Bennett Johnston]].

==Renaissance man==
[[Image:Presidential Medal of Freedom.svg|thumb|right|100px|Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1991]]
Ferré was also a talented pianist who recorded several albums of his piano music. On January 3, 1959 he founded the [[Museo de Arte de Ponce]], in his hometown of Ponce.<ref name="NY Times">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/22/obituaries/22FERR.html?ex=1382241600&en=dce8bfcd789466ca&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND|title=Luis A. Ferré, Who Pushed Puerto Rican Statehood, Dies at 99|author=Douglas Martin|work=The New York Times|date=October 22, 2003|access-date=October 13, 2007}}</ref> The museum initially displayed 71 paintings from his personal collection and today displays over 3,000 pieces. Among other things, Ferré is credited with having rescued from oblivion the painting ''[[Flaming June]]'' by the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] painter [[Frederic Lord Leighton]] – purchasing it in 1963, when it was considered "too old fashioned" and getting it prominently displayed at the Museo of Arte de Ponce.

{{lang|es|[[Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center|El Centro de Bellas Artes]]}}, the center for performing arts in [[Santurce, Puerto Rico]] also bears his name, as well as the main highway connecting San Juan and Ponce. He also assisted in the creation of the [[Casals Festival]]  and the [[Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music]]. He was a member of [[Phi Sigma Alpha]] fraternity. As a sportsman, Ferré practiced fencing, and is honored annually with the "Campeonato Nacional de Esgrima" in Puerto Rico.

His philanthropic deeds and defense for democracy earned him the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], awarded by President [[George H. W. Bush]] on November 18, 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031022.html|title=Statement on Don Luis Ferre|author=George W. Bush|publisher=The White House|date=October 22, 2003|access-date=October 13, 2007}}</ref>

==Death and legacy==
[[File:Luis A. Ferre sculpture.JPG|thumb|left|Sculpture of Ferré inside the [[Capitol of Puerto Rico]]]]
On September 29, 2003, Ferré was hospitalized with a [[urinary tract infection]] and underwent surgery for an [[intestine|intestinal blockage]] on October 1. While in the hospital, he developed [[pneumonia]] before finally succumbing to [[respiratory failure]] on the morning of October 21, 2003. He was 99 years old.

His body lay in state in Puerto Rico's capitol building in San Juan, then transported to his museum in Ponce, before being taken for a state funeral and burial in that city. His funeral and ceremonies honoring him were attended by numerous politicians. He is interred at the Las Mercedes Memorial Park in Ponce.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120312213302/http://www.elsuralavista.com/periodico/?p=34766 ''Conmemoran Natalicio de Don Luis A. Ferré Aguayo.'']}} February 22, 2011. El Sur a la Vista. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Retrieved March 31, 2011.</ref>

Among the awards that were bestowed on Luis A. Ferré was the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], an honor which was also subsequently bestowed on his sister [[Sor Isolina Ferre]].  The sculptor [[Tomás Batista]] was also commissioned to make a bust of Ferré, which is exhibited in the [[Ponce Museum of Art]].  Another [[Tomás Batista]] bust of him was unveiled by his widow, Tiody, Senate President [[Kenneth McClintock]] and Senate Vice President [[Orlando Parga]] in February, 2008 at the [[Senate of Puerto Rico]]'s Hall of Governors.

In 2004 the historic United States Courthouse and Post Office Building in Ponce, Puerto Rico was named the [[Luis A. Ferré United States Courthouse and Post Office Building]] by an Act of the U.S. Congress.

The segment of [[PR-163|Las Américas Avenue]] that includes the [[Museo de Arte de Ponce]] and the [[Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico]] was renamed the ''Luis A. Ferré Boulevard'' in November, 2010, in his honor.
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==See also==
{{Portal|Puerto Rico|Biography}}
* [[Sor Isolina Ferré]]
* [[The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon]]
* [[List of governors of Puerto Rico]]
* [[List of political parties in Puerto Rico]]
* [[Politics of Puerto Rico]]
*[[List of Puerto Rican Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031022.html White House Statement on Don Luis Ferre]
* [http://www.cba.gobierno.pr/  Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferre (Luis A. Ferre Center for the Performing Arts)]
* [http://www.museoarteponce.org/ Museo de Arte de Ponce (Ponce Art Museum)]

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{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the [[Republican Party of Puerto Rico (1903)|Puerto Rico Republican Party]]|years=1975–2004}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Roberto Sánchez Vilella]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Governor of Puerto Rico]]|years=1969–1973}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[President of the Senate of Puerto Rico|President of the Puerto Rico Senate]]|years=1977–1981}}
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{{Puerto Rico Governors}}
{{PRPNPnominees}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferre, Luis A.}}
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American philanthropists]]
[[Category:Deaths from respiratory failure]]
[[Category:Governors of Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Industrialists from Ponce]]
[[Category:Infectious disease deaths in Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:MIT School of Engineering alumni]]
[[Category:New Progressive Party members of the Senate of Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:New England Conservatory alumni]]
[[Category:New Progressive Party members of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Philanthropists from Ponce]]
[[Category:Politicians from Ponce]]
[[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]]
[[Category:Presidents of the New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico)]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Senate of Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:20th-century Puerto Rican businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century Puerto Rican engineers]]
[[Category:20th-century American engineers]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican party leaders]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican people of Catalan descent]]
[[Category:Republican Party (Puerto Rico) politicians]]
[[Category:Republican Party governors of Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Statehood movement in Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Burials at Cementerio Las Mercedes]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican mass media owners]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico]]