Perfecto Lacoste
Perfecto Lacoste | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mayor of Havana | |
| In office January 14, 1899 – July 1, 1900 | |
| Preceded by | Pedro Esteban y González-Larrinaga, Marquis de Esteban[1] |
| Succeeded by | Alejandro Rodríguez y Velazco |
| Constituency | Republic of Cuba |
| Cuban Secretary of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry | |
| In office May 1, 1900 – 1902 | |
| Preceded by | Juan Ríus Rivera |
| Succeeded by | Manuel Luciano Díaz |
| Constituency | Republic of Cuba |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Perfecto Lacoste y Grave de Peralta 1861 Holguín, Captaincy General of Cuba, Spanish Empire |
| Died | May 5 1905 Havana, Cuba |
| Spouse | Lucia Lacoste[2] |
Perfecto Lacoste was the first Mayor of Havana elected under American occupation and later Secretary of Agriculture of Cuba.[3]
Early history
[edit]Perfecto Lacoste y Grave de Peralta was born in Holguín, Cuba in the early 1860s. His uncle was Cuban General Julio Grave de Peralta.[4] The Ten Years' War caused his family to flee Cuba when he was 13 years old.[5]
He attended university in the United States, went into business in Cincinnati, and later obtained American citizenship.[6]
Preceding the Spanish-American War, he returned to Cuba. Lacoste became a well known planter, establishing the Lacoste sugar plantations in Pinar del Río Province.[7] During the war, damages were sustained on his sugar plantation through the acts of both insurgent and Spanish forces. Forces of Máximo Gómez and Antonio Maceo encamped on the plantation on January 6, 1896.[8]
Politics
[edit]Mayor
[edit]At the time of Spanish evacuation, he was appointed by American military authorities, succeeding Pedro Esteban González-Larrinaga, Marquis de Esteban. Lacoste took up his post on January 1, 1899, serving as the Mayor of the City of Havana.[9][10]
Secretary of Agriculture
[edit]When the Cuban Secretary of Agriculture Juan Ríus Rivera resigned on May 1, 1900, Lacoste assumed the position.[11] Lacoste was appointed the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry by Military Governor of Cuba Leonard Wood and resigned as Mayor of Havana.[12]
Following the 1901 Cuban general election, he was replaced by Manuel Luciano Díaz under the Palma government.[13]
In 1902, he released a report titled Opportunities in Cuba, published by Lewis, Scribner, & Co.[14]
Cuban sugar producers, led by Lacoste, influenced the Bliss-Palma protocol's sugar tariff provisions in the proposed 1903 treaty with the U.S.[15]
Ventures
[edit]A new sugar firm was founded by Lacoste in New York in 1904 with the goal of transforming his San José plantation into a large central sugar factory.[16]
Death
[edit]Perfecto Lacoste died in Havana, Cuba on May 5, 1905.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ "The Condition of Havana - Newspapers.com™". newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
- ^ Fuller, W. E. (1907). Special Report of William E. Fuller, Assistant Attorney-general, Being a Condensed Statement of the Work Done, the Questions Considered, the Principles Laid Down, and the Most Important Decisions Made by the Spanish Treaty Claims Commission from the Organization of the Commission, April 8, 1901, to April 10, 1907. United States: U.S. Government Printing Office.
- ^ The Kentucky Post. (July 27, 1904). U.S. Could Have Had Cuba As Easily as She Got Philippines; 1904. Newspapers.com. Retrieved June 2, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kentucky-post-us-could-have-had-cu/148582255/
- ^ "Goletas y canoas mambisas: una historia olvidada". radioangulo.cu. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- ^ a b "Obituary of Perfecto Lacoste; 1905 - Newspapers.com™". newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
- ^ Hartford Courant. (May 10, 1905). Note And Comment; 1905. Newspapers.com. Retrieved June 2, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-note-and-comment-1905/148579883/
- ^ The State. (July 13, 1903). Commercial Relations of Cuba and This Country; 1903. Newspapers.com. Retrieved June 2, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-state-commercial-relations-of-cuba-a/148581010/
- ^ Whiteman, M. M. (1937). Damages in International Law: Arrest, detention, imprisonment, or expulsion. United States: U.S. Government Printing Office.
- ^ Bianchi Ross, C. (2017, September 20). Cuba: A Different Story. RUTH.
- ^ "The Change of Rulers: Spanish Sovereignty in the Island of Cuba - Newspapers.com™". newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
- ^ "Project Gutenberg's The History of Cuba, vol. 4, by Willis Fletcher Johnson". gutenberg.org. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
- ^ Guillard, James, "The United States and Cuba: A Study of the US’s First Military Occupation and State Building Efforts" (2020). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3829. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3829
- ^ The Richmond Item. (May 17, 1902). Luciano Diaz 1902 Cuba. Newspapers.com. Retrieved June 2, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-richmond-item-luciano-diaz-1902-cuba/14087695/
- ^ Lacoste, P. (1902). Opportunities in Cuba. United States: Lewis, Scribner & Company.
- ^ Kapcia, A. (2022). Historical Dictionary of Cuba. United States: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
- ^ Taft, W. H. (1906). Revenue for the Philippine Islands: Hearings Before the Committee on the Philippines of the United States Senate. United States: U.S. Government Printing Office.