Editing Segundo Ruiz Belvis

{{short description|Puerto Rican activist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{family name hatnote|Ruiz|Belvis|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Segundo Ruiz Belvis
| image       = Segundo Ruiz Belvis.jpg
| caption     = 
| birth_date  = 13 May 1829
| birth_place = [[Hormigueros, Puerto Rico|Hormigueros]], [[Puerto Rico]]
| death_date  =  3 November 1867
| death_place = [[Valparaíso]], [[Chile]]
| occupation  = [[Abolitionist]]
| spouse      =
| children    =
| signature   =
| website     =
| footnotes   = Ruiz Belvis helped plan an armed expedition to Puerto Rico in what was to become known as the "[[Grito de Lares]]".
}}
'''Segundo Ruiz Belvis''' (13 May 1829 &ndash; 3 November 1867)<ref name="EnciclopediaPR 2021">{{cite web | title=Segundo Ruiz Belvis | website=EnciclopediaPR | date=May 17, 2021 | url=https://enciclopediapr.org/content/segundo-ruiz-belvis/ | access-date=June 15, 2023}}</ref> was a Puerto Rican [[abolitionism|abolitionist]] who also fought for Puerto Rico's right to [[Independence movement in Puerto Rico|independence]].

==Early years==
Ruiz Belvis was born in [[Hormigueros, Puerto Rico]] (then a barrio of the municipality of [[Mayagüez, Puerto Rico|Mayagüez]]) to José Antonio Ruiz and Manuela Belvis.<ref>[http://www.enciclopediapr.org/ing/article.cfm?ref=08040103&page=2 ''Hormigueros: History and Founding.''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112054952/http://www.enciclopediapr.org/ing/article.cfm?ref=08040103&page=2 |date=12 January 2014 }} Encyclopedia Puerto Rico. Retrieved 21 October 2012.</ref> He received his primary education in [[Aguadilla]]. Ruiz Belvis went to [[Venezuela]] and graduated with a degree in [[philosophy]] from the University of Caracas. He later earned a law degree from the [[Complutense University of Madrid|Central University of Madrid]] in Spain. During his stay in Spain, he befriended people with both liberal and reformist ideals who proposed the abolition of slavery.<ref name="BSRB">[http://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/r/ruiz_segundo.htm Biografía de Segundo Ruiz Belvis]</ref>

==Abolitionist==
In 1859, Ruiz Belvis returned to Puerto Rico and befriended [[Ramón Emeterio Betances]], joining "The Secret Abolitionist Society" founded by Betances. The society baptized and emancipated thousands of enslaved African children. The event, which was known as "aguas de libertad" (waters of liberty), was carried out at the [[Catedral Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria|Cathedral of Mayagüez]].<ref name="ND"/> Later, he moved to the city of [[Mayagüez, Puerto Rico|Mayagüez]] where he established his law practice. Ruiz Belvis was named [[Justice of the Peace]] by the city's citizens. He was later appointed to the Mayagüez city council as a representative. His responsibilities included watching over the well being of the slaves in his district and the management of public funds. Ruiz Belvis became involved in politics and took up the cause of abolitionism in the island.<ref name="BSRB"/>

When Ruiz Belvis returned to Madrid in 1865, he represented the abolitionist cause to the [[Cortes Generales]]. Although his ideas were considered dangerous by the Spanish rulers for their threat to the existing order, he helped begin the movement that would eventually lead to the liberation of the slaves in the remaining [[Spanish Empire|Spanish Colonies]] in Latin America. In 1866 after his father's death, Ruiz Belvis inherited his family's hacienda ''Josefa''; the first thing he did was free the slaves.<ref name="BSRB"/>

==Puerto Rican independence advocate==
[[File:Calle Prat.JPG|thumb|Calle Prat, Valparaíso, Chile. At this approximate location stood the Aubry Hotel, where Ruiz Belvis died in 1867.]]
Upon returning to Puerto Rico, Ruiz Belvis found out that the Spanish-appointed governor, José María Marchesi Oleaga, did not like the [[Liberalism|liberal]] ideas that Ruiz Belvis and his friends had; they were all banished to exile.<ref name="ND">[http://www.zonai.com/promociones/biografias/0501/index.asp El Nuevo Dia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927074102/http://www.zonai.com/promociones/biografias/0501/index.asp |date=27 September 2011 }}</ref>

Ruiz Belvis eventually ended up in New York in 1866, where together with Betances and other patriots, he formed the "Comité Revolucionario de Puerto Rico" ([[Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico]]) for the independence of the island. They developed a plan to send an armed expedition to Puerto Rico, in what was to become known as the "[[Grito de Lares]]". During this time, Ruiz Belvis became ill. He still traveled to [[Valparaíso]], Chile, to raise funds for the planned revolution.<ref name="ND"/>

Ruiz Belvis died in Valparaiso on 3 November 1867. He died before the uprising the next year—"Grito de Lares"—which failed. Slavery was finally abolished in Puerto Rico on 22 March 1873. He is buried in the chapel of the Cemetery of Hormigueros.<ref>[http://puertoricogallery.blogspot.com/2008/04/mausoleo-de-segundo-ruiz-belvis.html Mausoleo de Segundo Ruiz Belvis]</ref>

==Legacy==
To honor the memory of Segundo Ruiz Belvis, Puerto Rico has named many streets after him. A school has been named for him in each of the following places: his birth town of Hormigueros, [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]],<ref>[http://www.de.gobierno.pr/escuela-segundo-ruiz-belvis-ponce ''Escuela Segundo Ruiz Belvis - Ponce.''] Puerto Rico Department of Education. Retrieved 17 October 2012. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131105191309/http://www.de.gobierno.pr/escuela-segundo-ruiz-belvis-ponce Archived.]</ref> and [[Santurce, Puerto Rico|Santurce]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ruizbelvis.org/ |title=Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center |access-date=21 October 2007 |archive-date=6 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006202319/http://ruizbelvis.org/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the United States, "Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center" was named for him in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], and "Segundo Ruiz Belvis Diagnostic and Treatment Center" in [[the Bronx]], New York.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Puerto Rico}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110927074102/http://www.zonai.com/promociones/biografias/0501/index.asp El Nuevo Dia]
*[http://www.srbcc.org Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center]
{{PRIndependence}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz Belvis, Segundo}}
[[Category:1829 births]]
[[Category:1867 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Puerto Rican people]]
[[Category:Complutense University of Madrid alumni]]
[[Category:People from Hormigueros, Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican abolitionists]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican independence activists]]