Rafael Martínez Nadal

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Rafael Martínez Nadal
3rd President of the Senate of Puerto Rico
In office
1933–1941
Preceded byLuis Sánchez Morales
Succeeded byLuis Muñoz Marín
Member of the Senate of Puerto Rico from the At-large district
In office
1921 – July 6, 1941
Personal details
Born
Rafael Martínez Nadal

(1877-04-22)April 22, 1877
Republican Party of Puerto Rico
Republican Union

Rafael Martínez Nadal (April 22, 1877 – July 6, 1941) was a Puerto Rican politician,

senator, journalist, and businessman. He was the third president of the Senate of Puerto Rico
, serving from 1933 to 1941.

Early years

Rafael Martínez Nadal was born on April 22, 1877, in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. He was an orphan from an early age, since his mother, Estebanía Nadal Freyre died hours after his birth, and his father, Rafael Martínez Santana, when he was only five years old. After that, he was raised in Maricao, Puerto Rico by his paternal aunts. He then studied in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Professional life

At the age of sixteen, his tutor sent him to

Madrid and Barcelona
, where he was a businessman in fields as varied as bullfighting, meat distribution, theater production and coffee importation.

On August 13, 1904, Martínez Nadal returned to Mayagüez, where he dedicated to the business of coffee. He also became a journalist and joined the

Puerto Rico Republican Party founded several years earlier by doctor José Celso Barbosa. In 1908 he founded the "El Combate" newspaper. In 1912, he moved to Ponce and began studying again, receiving his law degree. His practice became so prominent that, even decades later, many court observers quipped a popular rhyme in Spanish, "Temblaba la corte, temblaba el fiscal, temblaban los jueces, cuando llegaba Martínez Nadal" ("the court trembled, the DA trembled, the judge trembled, when Martínez Nadal arrived").[1]

Political career

Rafael Martinez Nadal (left, seated) in conference with the recently appointed Puerto Rico governor William D. Leahy (right, seated)

Martínez Nadal was elected in 1914 as a member of the Puerto Rico House of Delegates, the precursor of the

Republican Party of Puerto Rico, he was elected to the Senate of Puerto Rico
in 1920.

When the

1928
.

After the Alianza disbanded, Martínez Nadal formed another party called the

1932 and was elected President of the Senate of Puerto Rico. He served as such until his death from cancer on July 6, 1941, in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. He was buried at Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in San Juan, Puerto Rico
.

Legacy

An expressway in Guaynabo is named after Martínez Nadal.[2]

References

  1. ^ Biografía Rafael Martínez Nadal on SenadoPR
  2. ^ "Ultiman a balazos a dos hombres en el expreso Martínez Nadal [Two men finished by gun shots on the Martinez Nadal expressway]". El Nuevo Dia (in Spanish). October 13, 2019.
Senate of Puerto Rico
Preceded by President of the Senate of Puerto Rico
1933–1941 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Chairman of the
Puerto Rico Republican Party

1932–1940 		Succeeded by
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