José M. Marxuach

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José María Marxuach Echavarría was born in the town of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, in 1848, to Don Francisco Marxuach y Ferrer, originally from the Catalan town of Mataró, and Doña Beatriz Amalia de Echavarría y Conti, originally from Santo Domingo. After studying medicine and surgery at the University of Barcelona, he returned to Puerto Rico and worked as a doctor in various towns on the island, including the capitol, San Juan. José María married Josefa Plumey Irizarry, the daughter of a wealthy planter of French descent, with whom he had two children: Acisclo and Amalia Marxuach Plumey. In 1881 he was designated President of the Subdelegation of Medical and Surgical Sciences of Puerto Rico. In 1897 while holding the post of Primer Teniente de Alcalde or Deputy Mayor of San Juan he was selected for the post of Mayor ad interim, his mandate would begin 12 May and end 1 July 1897. During his administration the city's pedestrian and drainage infrastructure–and thus its general level of sanitation–was greatly improved. In the midst of the 1898 U.S. invasion, Dr. Marxuach assisted Dr. Coll y Toste (then serving as Vice-President of the Puerto Rican Red Cross), in treating the wounded during the fighting in San Juan. The following year General George W. Davis, the American Military Governor of Puerto Rico, allowed municipal elections to be held for the first time since the U.S. invasion. The Puerto Rican Republican Party enjoyed a sweeping victory in San Juan, as a result of which Manuel Egozcue Cintrón (a former leader of the Partido Incondicional turned pro-estatismo) become Alcalde; José María, who was a political associate of Egozcue, obtained a seat in the Municipal Council (Concejo Municipal). In 1900 José María was elected Mayor-President (Alcalde Presidente); this second mandate would begin 11 December and end 7 March 1901. The dual office, a result of Spanish reforms implemented in 1878, combined the executive duties of a municipal mayor with the parliamentary offices of a city council president. Mayor Marxuach was succeeded in office by his predecessor, the veteran politician Egozcue Cintrón. Dr. Marxuach died in 1910.