Nemesio Canales

Nemesio Canales (December 18, 1878 – September 14, 1923) was a Puerto Rican essayist, journalist, novelist, playwright, politician, and activist who defended women's civil rights. As a politician, he presented a bill to the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, which was defeated 23 votes to 7, giving women their full civil rights, including the right to vote.

Early years Canales (birth name: Nemesio Rosario Canales Rivera ) was born on December 18, 1878, in Jayuya. He was the firstborn of Rosario Canales Quintero and Francisca Rivera Rivera. He received his primary and secondary education in schools in Utuado and Jayuya. One of these schools was Colegio Roselló, established in Utuado by Juan Luis Roselló in 1867. Canales continued his higher educational studies in the Liceo of Mayagüez where he earned a bachelor's degree (now equivalent to High School). In 1896, Canales went to Spain and enrolled in the University of Zaragoza to study medicine and law. In 1898, when the United States declared war against Spain, Canales abandoned his studies and went to Baltimore, where he enrolled in Baltimore's College of Law in 1903.

Political activist Upon his return to Puerto Rico he went to live in the city of Ponce, where he co-founded the daily newspaper paper El Día. and married Guarina Díaz Baldorioty, the granddaughter of Román Baldorioty de Castro. In Ponce, Canales joined the law firm of Luis Lloréns Torres. Like so many lawyers of the time, he wrote poetry of patriotic themes, collaborated as a journalist and took an active interest in politics. He served in the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico as a member of the Unionist Party, which promoted economic progress of the working class. In 1909, Canales presented a bill to the House giving women their full civil rights, including the right to vote, which was defeated 23 votes to 7. He also served as a lecturer in the School of Law of the University of Puerto Rico. Jayuya also converted the house in which Nemesio and his sister were raised into a museum. In Ponce, he is honored at the Illustrious Ponce Citizens Plaza in the Tricentennial Park.

Notable family members His younger sister, Blanca Canales Torresola, was a leader of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party which was presided by Pedro Albizu Campos. In October 30, 1950, she led the Jayuya Uprising revolt against United States colonial rule. Her cousins were Elio Torresola, Griselio Torresola one of two Puerto Rican nationalists who attempted to assassinate United States President Harry Truman and Doris Torresola, all high-ranking members of the party involved in the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s.