|
Lolita Lebrón (November 19, 1919 – August 1, 2010) was a Puerto Rican nationalist who was convicted of attempted murder and other crimes after leading an assault on the United States House of Representatives in 1954, resulting in the wounding of five members of the United States Congress. She was freed from prison in 1979 after being granted clemency by President Jimmy Carter. Lebrón was born and raised in Lares, Puerto Rico, where she joined the Liberal Party. In her youth she met Francisco Matos Paoli, a Puerto Rican poet, with whom she had a relationship. In 1941, Lebrón migrated to New York City, where she joined the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, gaining influence within the party's leadership. Within the organization she advocated socialist and feminist ideas. In 1952, after the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico was promulgated, the Nationalist Party began a series of revolutionary actions, including the Jayuya Uprising. As part of this initiative, Pedro Albizu Campos ordered her to organize attacks in the United States, focusing on locations that were "the most strategic to the enemy". She became the leader of a group of nationalists, who attacked the United States House of Representatives in 1954. She was incarcerated as a result. Lebrón remained imprisoned 25 years, when President Carter issued pardons to the group involved. After their release in 1981, the nationalists returned to Puerto Rico, where independence movements received them with a celebration. During the following years she continued her involvement in pro-independence activities, including the Navy-Vieques protests. Her life would be subsequently detailed in books and a documentary. On August 1, 2010, Lebrón died from complications of a cardiorespiratory infection. ==Early life== Lebrón (birth name: Dolores Lebrón Sotomayor ) was one of five siblings born in Lares, Puerto Rico to Gonzalo Lebrón Bernal and Rafaela Soto Luciano, the other four were Aurea, Augusto, Gonzalo Jr. and Julio. Lebrón was raised in ''Hacienda Pezuelas'' in Pezuelas, a barrio in Lares.〔Ribes Tovar et al., p.17〕 Gonzalo Lebrón worked as the hacienda's foreman earning a salary of $30 a month and was allowed to live in a "small house" where he was also allowed to plant produce for his family.〔Ribes Tovar et al., p.19〕 In Pezuelas Lebrón began her education in a small community school.〔Ribes Tovar et al., p.20〕 Early in her life, Lebrón contracted pneumonia when she accidentally fell into a gutter that was full of water, as a consequence she grew with a frail body and was unable to keep up with the constant activities of her brothers without feeling fatigue.〔Ribes Tovar et al., p.21〕 She developed an introverted and contemplative personality, often spending her time admiring nature around the hacienda.〔 From Pezuelas the family moved to Mirasol, also in Lares, where Gonzalo Lebrón administered an hacienda owned by Emilio Vilellas. There she received a better education, attending a local public school.〔Ribes Tovar et al., p.23〕 When Lebrón completed the sixth grade she attended the ''Segunda Unidad Rural'', a middle school located in Bartolo, an adjacent barrio.〔Ribes Tovar et al., p.25〕 She concluded her formal public school education in the eighth grade.〔Ribes Tovar et al., p.33〕 Lebrón had uncommonly good looks and when she was a teenager won the first place in the annual "Queen of the Flowers of May" beauty contest held in Lares. Although her father was an atheist, Lebrón was baptized in the Catholic faith when she was fourteen years old along with her other siblings.〔Ribes Tovar et al., p.37〕 During the baptism celebration she met Francisco Matos Paoli, who became her first boyfriend.〔Ribes Tovar et al., p.38〕 Paoli and Lebron wrote letters to each other where they exchanged the poetry which they wrote.〔Ribes Tovar et al., p.42〕 According to Jossianna Arroyo, Lolita wrote "more mystical poetry, centered on what she called “visions” filled with religious symbolism." Paoli's family opposed their relationship because they considered Lebrón a ''jíbara'' (peasant). Her father also opposed this relationship and ordered her to stop writing to Paoli. However, they both continued to write to each other until he moved out of the city.〔Ribes Tovar et al., p.43–44〕 Lebrón eventually moved to San Juan, where she studied sewing and continued her correspondence with Paoli.〔Ribes Tovar et al., p.46〕 She felt obligated to return to Lares because her father was severely affected by tuberculosis.〔Ribes Tovar et al., p.66〕 The family was forced to abandon the house in the hacienda, but was later received by Ramón Santiago who provided them with a new house.〔Ribes Tovar et al., p.67〕 Lebrón took upon herself the responsibility of taking care of her father. She would travel to a nearby town to buy medicines for her father which she gave him every seventy minutes.〔Ribes Tovar et al., p.68〕 For seven days she didn't sleep or eat while attending him. Following his death Lebrón began working by weaving clothes.〔Ribes Tovar et al., p.73〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lolita Lebrón」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|