 ramÃ³n emeterio betances y alacÃ¡n (april 8, 1827 &ndash; september 16, 1898) was a puerto rican nationalist. he was the primary instigator of the grito de lares revolution and is considered to be the father of the puerto rican independence movement. since the grito galvanized a burgeoning nationalist movement among puerto ricans, betances is also considered "el padre de la patria" (father of the puerto rican nation). because of his charitable deeds for people in need, he also became known as "el padre de los pobres" ("the father of the poor"). betances was also a medical doctor and surgeon in puerto rico, and one of its first social hygienists. he had established a successful surgery and ophthalmology practice. betances was also an abolitionist, diplomat, public health administrator, poet, and novelist. he served as representative and contact for cuba and the dominican republic in paris, france. an adherent of freemasonry, his political and social activism was deeply influenced by the group's philosophical beliefs. ==early years== ===ancestry=== betances was born in cabo rojo, puerto rico, in the building that now houses the "logia cuna de betances" ("betances' cradle masonic lodge"). betances' parents were felipe betanzos ponce, a merchant born in hispaniola (in the part that would later become the dominican republic; the surname betanzos transformed into betances while the family resided there), and marÃ­a del carmen alacÃ¡n de montalvo, a native of cabo rojo and of french ancestry. they were married in 1812. betances claimed in his lifetime that a relative of his, pedro betances, had revolted against the spanish government of hispaniola in 1808 and was tortured, executed, and his body burned and shown to the populace to dissuade them from further attempts.dÃ¡vila del valle. oscar g., presencia del ideario masÃ³nico en el proyecto revolucionario antillano de ramÃ³n emeterio betances meanwhile, alacÃ¡n's father, a sailor, led a party of volunteers that tried to apprehend the pirate roberto cofresÃ­ y ramÃ­rez de arellano in 1824 and did arrest some of cofresÃ­'s crew, for which he was honored by the
1827_births 1898_deaths 19th-century_Puerto_Rican_people 19th-century_journalists Burials_at_PA"re_Lachaise_Cemetery Chevaliers_of_the_LA(c)gion_d\'honneur Military_history_of_Puerto_Rico People_from_Cabo_Rojo,_Puerto_Rico People_of_the_Latin_American_wars_of_independence People_of_the_SpanishaAmerican_War Puerto_Rican_abolitionists Puerto_Rican_activists Puerto_Rican_columnists Puerto_Rican_historians Puerto_Rican_independence_activists Puerto_Rican_journalists Puerto_Rican_military_officers Puerto_Rican_nationalists Puerto_Rican_scientists Puerto_Rican_writers Surgeons