Félix Córdova Dávila
Encyclopedia
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
leader and judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
from Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
who served as Puerto Rico's fourth Resident Commissioner in Congress.
Early years
Félix Córdova Dávila was born in Vega Baja, Puerto RicoVega Baja, Puerto Rico
Vega Baja is a municipality in north central Puerto Rico located in the northern coast, north of Morovis; east of Manatí; and west of Vega Alta. Vega Baja is spread over 13 wards and Vega Baja Pueblo...
. His parents, Lope Córdova y Thibault and María Concepción Dávila y Dávila died while he was very young, forcing him to be placed in the care of his cousin, Dr. Gonzalo María Córdova y Dávila in Jayuya
Jayuya, Puerto Rico
Jayuya is a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the mountainous center region of the island, north of Ponce; east of Utuado; and west of Ciales. Jayuya is spread over 18 wards and Jayuya Pueblo...
. He began studies on his own based in the extensive library of his cousins Gonzalo and Ulpiano. During his adolescence, he attended the public schools in Manati
Manatí, Puerto Rico
Manatí is a municipality of Puerto Rico in the northern coast, north of Morovis and Ciales; east of Florida and Barceloneta; and west of Vega Baja. Manatí is spread over 8 wards and Manatí Pueblo...
hile working at a drugstore owned by another cousin, Clemente Ramírez de Arellano Córdova. After the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
acquired Puerto Rico in 1898, Córdova Dávila, knowing very little English, decided to invest the earnings of a book of poetry that he produced to attend law school in Washington, DC. Attracted by low tuition costs, he enrolled at Howard University Law School, not aware of it being a black college. Well treated by his fellow students, all black, he completed his first year there as the only white student, before transferring to National University Law School in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, now known as George Washington University Law School, where he obtained his Masters of Law. Before returning to Puerto Rico, he was denied a license to practice law in the District since Puerto Ricans were not yet United States citizens. He successfully protested before the District Bar and was admitted to practice in the nation's capital. He was admitted to practice law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
in Puerto Rico in 1903. In 1906, Córdova married Mercedes Díaz Collazo, with whom he had several children, Jorge Luis in 1907, who would succeed Córdova Dávila both on the Supreme Court as well as in Congress (1969–1972), Félix Lope (1909) and Enrique (1913).
Public office
Córdova Dávila then took on a succession of local offices in Puerto Rico. He was appointed by Governor William Hunt as judge of the municipal court of CaguasCaguas, Puerto Rico
Caguas , founded in 1775, is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey....
in 1904 and then served as judge of the municipal court of Manati from 1904 to 1908. He served as district attorney for Aguadilla
Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Aguadilla , founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla is spread over 15 wards and Aguadilla Pueblo...
in 1908, as judge of the district court of Guayama
Guayama, Puerto Rico
Guayama is a municipality of Puerto Rico founded on January 29, 1736 and located on the Southern Coastal Valley region, bordering the Caribbean, south of Cayey; east of Salinas; and west of Patillas and Arroyo. Guayama is spread over 9 wards and Guayama Pueblo...
from 1908 to 1910; judge of the district court of Arecibo from 1910 to 1911; and judge of the district court of San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
from 1911 to 1917. (The district courts on which Córdova Dávila were part of Puerto Rico's local court system, and should not be confused with the federal court or United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
The United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The court is based in San Juan. The main building is the Clemente Ruiz Nazario U.S. Courthouse located in the Hato Rey district of San Juan...
.) On January 12, 1912, Córdova was one of nine attorneys and judges who founded Puerto Rico's first law school under US rule, operating out of the Ateneo Puertorriqueño, serving as its first Civil Code professor. This first school was eventually transformed into the University of Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...
School of Law.
On July 16, 1917, Córdova Dávila was elected as a Unionist to serve as Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioner is the title of several, quite different types of Commissioner in overseas possession or protectorate of the British Crown or of the United States.-British English:...
from Puerto Rico to the United States, succeeding Luis Muñoz Rivera
Luis Muñoz Rivera
Luis Muñoz Rivera was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist and politician. He was a major figure in the struggle for political autonomy of Puerto Rico....
, who had died the preceding November and had recommended him as his successor in office. The duties of the Resident Commissioner included representing Puerto Rico as a non-voting delegate to the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. Córdova Dávila was re-elected to four-year terms as Resident Commissioner in 1920, 1924, and 1928.
As he opened his congressional office, Luis Muñoz Marín
Luis Muñoz Marín
Don José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and politician. Regarded as the "father of modern Puerto Rico," he was the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. Muñoz Marín was the son of Luis Muñoz Rivera, a renowned autonomist leader...
, the son of his predecessor, asked to be hired as his clerk. Duty-bound to Muñoz Rivera, Córdova Dávila hired him immediately. In his memoirs, Puerto Rico's future first elected Governor, wrote pleasantly about his two months working in Congress. The Resident Commissioner, on the other hand, in a letter a friend, Epifanio Fernández Vanga, stated that "(Muñoz Marín) has natural talent but lacks the education to perform at this task...everything was disorganized...and my office's image was being affected".
Trials and tribulations
In 1918, his wife and three children were infected with the influenzaInfluenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
that American soldiers brought back from the battlefields in Europe. While his children recovered, his wife died in October of that year, and he married his second wife, Patria Martínez, in 1919, with whom he became estranged over time.
On April 11, 1932, Córdova Dávila resigned as Resident Commissioner after having been appointed by President Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico is the highest court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority within Puerto Rico to interpret and decide questions of Commonwealth law. As the highest body of the judicial branch of the Puerto Rican government, it is analogous to one of the...
. He held that office until March 31, 1938 when he retired from the court to rest and prepare for his death from prostate cancer on December 3, 1938.
Dr. Loretta Phelps de Córdova, the wife of one of Córdova Dávila's descendants, has published information concerning Córdova Dávila's service as Resident Commissioner. A series of Córdova Dávila's letters is being published under collaboration between Dr. Phelps de Córdova and the Official Historian of Puerto Rico
Official Historian of Puerto Rico
Pursuant to a law approved in 1903, "An Act for the Approval and Conservation of Certain Historical Data of Puerto Rico", the Puerto Rico Legislature created the Office of the Official Historian of Puerto Rico. The historians who held the position during the early decades of the 20th century...
, Dr. Luis González Vale
Luis González Vale
Dr. Luis González Vale is the latest in a long line of historians who have held the post of Official Historian of Puerto Rico, having succeeded Dr. Pilar Barbosa in the post....
.