José Andino y Amezquita

He was a direct descendant of Captain Juan de Amézqueta, a Spanish soldier who defended Puerto Rico from an invasion by the Dutch in 1625.

He was also the great-grandson of Field Marshal Gaspar Martinez De Andino, a Spaniard who was appointed by the Spanish Crown Governor of Puerto Rico and served as such from 1683 to 1685.

In 1813, he founded the "Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País" (Economic Society of Friends of the Nation), an organization which recognized the artistic talents of the local residents in contests in which those who participated were given monetary prizes.

As a journalist for the newspaper El Eco, Andino y Amézquita exhorted his readers to vote during elections for native-born Puerto Ricans instead of candidates born in Spain.

[1] Upon his retirement, Andino y Amézquita would spend his last years in his farm "La Campaña" in the town of Carolina, Puerto Rico.