Olimpio Otero Vergés

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Otero and the second or maternal family name is Vergés.
Olimpio Otero Vergés
Olimpio Otero Vergés, ca. 1905
Born1845[1]
Ponce, Puerto Rico[citation needed]
Died7 September 1911[2]
Ponce, Puerto Rico
NationalityPuerto Rican
Occupation(s)Merchant, Attorney, Composer, Musical editor, and Civic leader

Olimpio Otero Vergés[a] (1845 – 7 September 1911) was a merchant,[3] attorney,[4] composer, musical editor, and a civic leader in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Early years

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Otero Vergés was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in 1845. His parents were Antonio Otero Aquilina y Josefa Verges de Perea. He was one of three children in the family. His siblings were Adquilina and Josefa Verges de Clodomiro.

Merchant, composer, and musical editor

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The postcard above was one of the items made and sold at Otero's Bazar Otero in 1908

Otero founded the first publishing house to publish and distribute Puerto Rican music, called Bazar Otero, on Calle Atocha. His efforts made possible the circulation and distribution of music from the most important composers of his time, such as Manuel Gregorio Tavarez and Juan Morel Campos. The Bazar was also a gathering point for musicians of the area.[5] One of Otero's better known musical compositions is "La Cuñadita".[6][7]

Civic leader and political activist

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Otero Verges's niche at Cementerio Civil de Ponce

As a civic leader, Otero Verges led the Agricultural and Industrial Tobacco Exposition held in Ponce in 1883, just a year after the successful 1882 Exposition Fair that was held in the same city at Plaza Las Delicias in the building now called Parque de Bombas.[8]

In October, 1887, Otero led a three-member commission that organized an expedition to Madrid, Spain, for Julio Vizcarrondo and Juan Bautista Arrillaga Roque to denounce the injustices perpetrated by Spanish governor General Romualdo Palacio González. It resulted in the removal of General Palacio from office.[3] He was a representative (Diputado) to the Spanish Courts.[9]

Otero is also known for his activism for the creation of a road, now PR-123, to link Ponce and Arecibo in the late nineteenth century. In 1903, the Puerto Rico Legislature named a bridge on the Ponce to Adjuntas section of the road in his memory.[10] The bridge is located in Barrio Magueyes of the municipality of Ponce. A prominent local civic and community leader, Otero was also a member of the organizing board that made possible the 1883 Ponce Fair.[11]

Parque de la Abolicion

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Main article: Parque de la Abolición

In 1880 Otero, together with Juan Mayoral Barnés and Román Baldorioty de Castro, was instrumental in creating the concept for a park in Ponce — known as Parque de la Abolicion — dedicated to the abolition of slavery, at the time the only such memorial in the Caribbean.[12]

Legacy

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Most authorities use the name "Olimpio Otero Vergés". However, social scientist and historian Socorro Girón appears to name him "Olimpio Otero Aquilina" (Ponce, el teatro La Perla y La Campana de la Almudaina. 1992. Page 182.)

References

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  1. ^ Martha Marchena, Pianist: Cancion Sin Palabras (Compact Disc) Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  2. ^ La Vuelta de la Feria: Segunda Parte del Juguete Cómico "Los Jíbaros Progresistas o La Feria de Ponce", Original y en Verso." Ramon Mendez Quiñones. Tipografía "El Vapor". Ponce, Puerto Rico. 28 July 1882. Archivo Digital Nacional de Puerto Rico. Page 258. Accessed 14 October 2018.
  3. ^ a b El Componte. Museo del Autonomismo de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Autonomism Museum), Panteón Nacional Roman Baldorioty de Castro, Ponce, Puerto Rico. Accessed 10 November 2010
  4. ^ A Resolution to Name and Designate "Otero Viaduct" a Certain Highway Bridge on the Section of the Arecibo-Ponce Road within the Municipality of Ponce. Acts of the Legislature of Puerto Rico. Approved 12 March 1903. By the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico. pp. 149-150. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  5. ^ Ramón Marín. Las fiestas populares de Ponce. Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico. 1994. Page 30. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  6. ^ Martha Marchena, Pianist. Canción Sin Palabras (Compact Disc)Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  7. ^ Martha Marchena, Pianist. Cancion Sin Palabras (Compact Disc)[permanent dead link] Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  8. ^ "Actividad Economica" Hall, Museo de la Historia de Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 9 March 2001.
  9. ^ Guillermo A. Baralt. Historia de El Nuevo Dia (1909-2000). Fundacion El Nuevo Dia. San Juan, Puerto Rico. Editores: Publicaciones Puertorriqueñas. 2002. p.119. ISBN 1-881720-82-9.
  10. ^ Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico. A Resolution to Name and Designate "Otero Viaduct" a Certain Highway Bridge on the Section of the Arecibo-Ponce Road within the Municipality of Ponce. Acts of the Legislature of Puerto Rico. Approved 12 March 1903. Pages 149-150. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  11. ^ By Jose Ramon Abad. Puerto Rico en la Feria-Exposición de Ponce en 1882: Memoria Redactada de Orden de la Junta Directive de la Misma. (Ponce, Puerto Rico: Establecimiento Tipográfico "El Comercio". 1885) Pages 56, 65. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  12. ^ Let'sGoToPonce. Abolition of Slavery.
  13. ^ Civism. TravelPonce. Retrieved 16 May 2012.

Further reading

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  • Fay Fowlie de Flores. Ponce, Perla del Sur: Una Bibliográfica Anotada. Second Edition. 1997. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Universidad de Puerto Rico en Ponce. p. 110. Item 564. LCCN 92-75480
  • Eugenio Astol. "El diputado 'Carretera'". Puerto Rico Ilustrado. 16 de mayo de 1936. pp. 13, 66. (Colegio Universitario Tecnológico de Ponce, CUTPO)
  • Fay Fowlie de Flores. Ponce, Perla del Sur: Una Bibliográfica Anotada. Second Edition. 1997. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Universidad de Puerto Rico en Ponce. p. 332. Item 1655. LCCN 92-75480
  • Ponce. Oficina del Alcalde. Al pueblo de Ponce y el Hon. Gobernador de Puerto Rico. Tipografía Baldorioty. 1902-1906. (Universidad de Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras.)
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