Felisa Rincon de Gautier: The Mayor of San Juan

by Ruth Gruber

Biography of the Puerto Rican woman who served five terms as mayor of San Juan and believed in ruling with the "politics of love." This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0690294751
• ISBN13: 9780690294750
• Release Date: January 1972
• Publisher: Crowell
• Length: 238 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.

Customer Reviews

the portrait of a lady

Ruth Gruber's book about Felisa Rincón De Gautier adroitly tells the story of the first lady Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico who also made history as the first female Mayor of any capital city in the Americas. Ruth Gruber's writing style is easy going without sacrificng details. For example, there are records of conversations Felisa had with others; I am very impressed. Sure, the book is probably not truly exhaustive; but you'll learn everything that's pertinent about this fine lady; it's amazing what she did during her years as mayor from 1946 to 1968. Affectionally known as Doña Fela to Puerto Ricans, her friends and others in the international coomunity, Felisa Rincón De Gautier was also the American Goodwill Ambassador for four United States Presidents. It's a quick and easy read; but don't let that fool you. There's so much to the story of this singularly beautiful, special human being. Doña Fela worked tirelessly for the poor as I learned from reading this book; and right from the start Gruber tells us how passionately Felisa wanted to "clean up" San Juan to make it a better, safer and more attractive city for its people and tourism. Felisa was so concerned about the poor children of Puerto Rico that for three consecutive years in the 1950s she had a frozen crate of snow shipped by air from North America in wintertime; and when the children and their parents got the word that the crate of snow was to be opened in a San Juan park they came, played, and took pictures for as long as the snow lasted! I was in Puerto Rico recently; and they still talk about Doña Fela with pride, affection and a great deal of respect. Ruth Gruber writes about Doña Fela with love and a deep respect for her accomplishments. It's very rare that someone cares so much about people the way Felisa Rincón De Gautier did. I recomemnd this book for anyone in the Puerto Rican community; and anybody who wants to learn about the history of Puerto Rico would do well to add this to their libraries.

feisa rinco de gautier

This book is a very good source of information of her life.