Rafael María de Labra

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Rafael María de Labra

|honorific-suffix =

|image = Rafael María de Labra.jpg

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|caption = Portrait circa 1911

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|birth_date = 7 September 1840

|birth_place = Havana

|death_date = 16 April 1918

|death_place = Madrid

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|nationality = Spanish

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|occupation = Politician, writer, educator, journalist, lecturer, lawyer

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|signature = Firma de Rafael María de Labra.svg

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Rafael María de Labra y Cadrana (7 September 1840 – 16 April 1918) was a Spanish krausist educator, activist, lawyer, lecturer, Republican politician and author. He served two times as Rector of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. A noted abolitionist, he was a key figure in the campaign for the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico and Cuba.

Biography

Born in Havana (both 7 September 1840 and 1841 have been reported as birth date),{{Sfn|Vicente Hernández|1990|p=67}}{{Sfn|Davies|Sánchez|2010b|p=11}} son to Rafaela González Cadrana (a Cuban-Asturian) and Ramón María de Labra (a Liberal army officer from Asturias, defender of the 1812 Constitution who had been exiled during the Ominous Decade, destined to Cuba in 1836).{{Sfn|Hernández Ruigómez|1994|p=318}}{{Sfn|Davies|Sánchez|2010b|pp=11–12}}

Rafael moved to Mainland Spain in 1849 with his family,{{Sfn|Davies|Sánchez|2010b|p=12}} establishing early in Madrid after briefly passing by Almería and Cádiz.{{Sfn|Vicente Hernández|1990|p=67}}{{Sfn|Davies|Sánchez|2010b|p=12}} A teenage Labra joined the Ateneo de Madrid as member on 15 November 1857.{{Sfn|Romanones|1922|p=14}} He was the founder (or editor) of a number of newspapers such as La Tribuna, El Correo de España or El Correo de Ultramar.{{Sfn|Vicente Hernández|1982|p=97}}

He took studies at the Central University of Madrid, where he became a disciple of {{ill|José Moreno Nieto|es|lt=Moreno Nieto}}, {{ill|Benito Gutiérrez Fernández|es}} and {{ill|Julián Sanz del Río|es|lt=Sanz del Río}};{{Sfn|Domingo Acebrón|2006|p=28}} he earned a licentiate degree in Philosophy and Letters in 1858, Administrative Law (1862) and Civil and Canon Law (1862).{{Sfn|Davies|Sánchez|2010b|p=12}}

His "dangerous or condemnable ideas" on colonial policies prevented him from becoming a university professor.{{Sfn|Domingo Acebrón|2006|p=30}} A member of the Spanish Abolitionist Society, Labra became its president in 1869.{{Sfn|Domingo Acebrón|2006|p=142}}

He became a member of the Congress of Deputies after the 1871 election, in representation of the district of Infiesto (Asturias).{{Sfn|Hernández Ruigómez|1994|p=323}} He would earn again a seat as member of the Lower House in representation of Sabana Grande (Puerto Rico; 1872; 1874); Havana (1879) and Santa Clara (Cuba; 1885).{{Sfn|Davies|Sánchez|2010b|p=12}}

He was also a member of the Spanish Senate, elected in representation of the University of Havana and in representation of the Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País de León.{{Cite web|url=https://www.senado.es/web/conocersenado/senadohistoria/senado18341923/senadores/fichasenador/index.html?id1=1521|publisher=Senado de España|title=Labra y Cadrana, Rafael María de}}

Labra's first tenure as president of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza (ILE) lasted from 1881 to 1882.{{sfn|Vicente Hernández|1990|p=68}} He returned to the presidency of the ILE in 1885, remaining at the post until his death.{{sfn|Vicente Hernández|1990|p=68}} He was elected to the presidency of the government board of the Ateneo de Madrid in February 1913, serving in that capacity until his death.{{Sfn|Romanones|1922|pp=14–15}}{{Sfn|Hernández Ruigómez|1994|p=322}}

He died on 16 April 1918,{{Sfn|Romanones|1922|p=14}} in Madrid.{{Sfn|Soldevilla|1919|p=132}}

Views

File:Rear View of Rafael María de Labra Graded School, Barrio Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico (1920) - photograph - page 142.jpg

Labra, who along his parliamentary history espoused autonomist stances vis-à-vis the Cuban question, remarked in 1898 that "he was not an advocate of the independence of our Antilles", always defending the compatibility of autonomy of the colonies and Spanish national integrity.{{Sfn|Domingo Acebrón|1998|p=157}} A convinced Republican,{{Sfn|Domingo Acebrón|1998|p=155}} he adhered to the Republican-Evolutionist line during the First Spanish Republic.{{Sfn|Vicente Hernández|1982|p=97}} According to the Count of Romanones, if Labra had reneged on his republican faith, he would have hold top offices in Spanish politics (of the Restoration), being reportedly asked several times to join the government.{{Sfn|Romanones|1922|pp=18–19}}

Described as a "Revolutionary Liberal", he was a key campaigner for the abolition of slavery in Cuba and Puerto Rico.{{Sfn|Davies|Sánchez|2010a|p=917}} He was also a pacifist.{{Sfn|Davies|Sánchez|2010a|p=917}}

Adhered to Krausist social organicism,{{Sfn|Vicente Hernández|1990|p=68}} he defended the instruction and education of the people as a mean to bridge the gap between social classes and as vehicle for the formation of a strong public opinion, thus facilitating the participation of people in politics.{{Sfn|Vicente Hernández|1982|p=108}}

References

;Citations

;Bibliography

{{Cite journal|last1=Davies|first1=Catherine|last2=Sánchez|first2=Sarah|year=2010a|title=Rafael María de Labra and La Revista Hispano-Americana. 1864—1867: Revolutionary Liberalism and Colonial Reform|journal=Bulletin of Spanish Studies|volume=87|issue=7|pages=915–938|doi=10.1080/14753820.2011.529290|s2cid=143257179}}
{{Cite journal|last1=Davies|first1=Catherine|last2=Sánchez|first2=Sarah|year=2010b|title=Rafael María de Labra and Ramón Labra: Two Generations of Revolution and Liberal Reform in Spain and Cuba|journal=Hispanic Research Journal|volume=11|issue=1|pages=11–24|doi=10.1179/146827309x12561172511260|s2cid=153846117}}
{{Cite journal|url=http://estudiosamericanos.revistas.csic.es/index.php/estudiosamericanos/article/view/369/375|year=1998|title=Rafael María de Labra ante la cuestión de Cuba, 1898|first=M.ª Dolores|last=Domingo Acebrón|journal=Anuario de Estudios Americanos|publisher=Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas|location=Madrid|volume=55|issue=1|issn=0210-5810}}
{{Cite book|title=Rafael María de Labra: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Las Filipinas, Europa y Marruecos, en la España del sexenio democrático y la restauración (1871–1918)|first=María Dolores|last=Domingo Acebrón|publisher=Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas|year=2006|location=Madrid|isbn=84-00-08447-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vLn4JIcTXgoC}}
{{Cite journal|url=http://ddfv.ufv.es/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10641/474/Rafael%20Mar%C3%ADa%20de%20Labra%2C%20americanista%20antillano%20en%20el%20Congreso%20de%20los%20Diputados.pdf?sequence=1|publisher=Universidad Francisco de Vitoria|first=Almudena|last=Hernández Ruigómez|journal=Mar Oceana: Revista del Humanismo Español e Iberoamericano|issn=1134-7627|issue=1|year=1994|pages=315–355|title=Rafael María de Labra, americanista antillano en el Congreso de los Diputados}}
{{Cite book|url=https://www.ateneodemadrid.com/biblioteca_digital/folletos/Folletos-0210.pdf|title=D. Rafael María de Labra y la política de España en América y Portugal|first=Conde de|last=Romanones|author-link=Count of Romanones|year=1922|publisher=Gráfica Ambos Mundos|location=Madrid}}
{{Cite book|title=El año político. 1918|year=1919|first=Fernando|last=Soldevilla|location=Madrid|publisher=Imprenta y Encuadernación de Julio Cosano|url=http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0001849473&page=140}}
{{Cite journal|title=La educación popular en el pensamiento de Rafael María de Labra|first=Ulpiano|year=1982|location=Salamanca|publisher=Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca|url=https://revistas.usal.es/index.php/0212-0267/article/view/6450/6453|last=Vicente Hernández|volume=1|journal=Historia de la Educación|issn=0212-0267}}
{{Cite journal|title=Pensamiento político-educativo del rector de la Institución Libre de Enseñanza D. Rafael Mª de Labra y Cadrana|first=Ulpiano|last=Vicente Hernández|journal=Revista Interuniversitaria de Formación del Profesorado|issn=0213-8646|issue=7|year=1990|pages=67–88|url=http://www.aufop.com/aufop/uploaded_files/articulos/1250180489.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923180446/http://www.aufop.com/aufop/uploaded_files/articulos/1250180489.pdf|archive-date=23 September 2015}}