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385:, asked to be hired as his clerk. Feeling 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, wrote to his friend Epifanio Fernández Vanga, 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".
441:
308:, where he obtained his Masters of Law. Before returning to Puerto Rico, he was denied a license to practice law in the District of Columbia because 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 in Puerto Rico in 1903.
295:
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, D.C. Attracted by low tuition costs, he enrolled at Howard University Law School, not aware of it being a black college.
412:
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
355:.) 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
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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.
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283:. His parents, Lope Córdova y Thibault and María Concepción Dávila y Dávila, died while he was very young, and he was placed in the care of his cousin, Dr. Gonzalo María Córdova y Dávila in
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374:, who had died the preceding November and had recommended him as his successor. The duties of the Resident Commissioner included representing Puerto Rico as a non-voting delegate to the
779:
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352:
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287:. 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
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409:. 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.
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Well treated by his fellow students, all black, he completed his first year there as the only white student, before transferring to
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2. La Obra de Félix Córdova Dávila, Volume 1, Dr. Loretta Phelps de Córdova, Office of the
Official Historian of Puerto Rico, 1999
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in 1904 and then served as judge of the municipal court of Manati from 1904 to 1908. He served as district attorney for
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from 1908 to 1910; judge of the district court of
Arecibo from 1910 to 1911; and judge of the district court of
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who served as Puerto Rico's fourth
Resident Commissioner in Congress and later as an associate justice of the
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On April 11, 1932, Córdova Dávila resigned as
Resident Commissioner after having been appointed by President
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Córdova Dávila then took on a succession of local offices in Puerto Rico. He was appointed by
Governor
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while working at a drugstore owned by another cousin, Clemente Ramírez de
Arellano Córdova. After the
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378:. Córdova Dávila was re-elected to four-year terms as Resident Commissioner in 1920, 1924, and 1928.
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Republican Party members of the United States House of
Representatives from Puerto Rico
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In 1906, Córdova married Mercedes Díaz Collazo, with whom he had several children:
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as well as in Congress (1969–1972), Félix Lope (1909), and Enrique (1913).
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He died on December 3, 1938, in San Juan, Puerto Rico at age 60.
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As he opened his congressional office, his predecessor's son,
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In 1918, his wife and three children were infected with the
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List of Hispanic Americans in the United States Congress
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Associate justices of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
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in 1907, who would succeed Córdova Dávila both as an
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Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
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On July 16, 1917, Córdova Dávila was elected as the
255:(November 20, 1878 – December 3, 1938) was a
370:from Puerto Rico to the United States, succeeding
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31: and the second or maternal family name is
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343:in 1908, as judge of the district court of
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497:Official Historian of Puerto Rico website
785:National University School of Law alumni
117:April 11, 1932 – March 31, 1938
74:August 7, 1917 – April 11, 1932
357:University of Puerto Rico School of Law
306:George Washington University Law School
795:Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent
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376:United States House of Representatives
805:Resident Commissioners of Puerto Rico
634:Resident Commissioners of Puerto Rico
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552:Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico
519:"Félix Córdova Dávila (id: D000090)"
62:Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico
335:as judge of the municipal court of
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790:People from Vega Baja, Puerto Rico
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577:Jacinto Texidor y Alcalá del Olmo
415:Official Historian of Puerto Rico
279:Félix Córdova Dávila was born in
236:National University School of Law
128:Jacinto Texidor y Alcalá del Olmo
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253:Félix Lope María Córdova Dávila
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16:Puerto Rican politician
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366:candidate to serve as
281:Vega Baja, Puerto Rico
140:Angel de Jesús Sánchez
562:José Lorenzo Pesquera
455:List of Puerto Ricans
368:Resident Commissioner
349:San Juan, Puerto Rico
211:Mercedes Díaz Collazo
192:San Juan, Puerto Rico
97:José Lorenzo Pesquera
42:Félix Córdova Dávila
502:2007-03-11 at the
484:2016-03-03 at the
447:Puerto Rico portal
419:Luis González Vale
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592:Succeeded by
559:Succeeded by
545:Luis Muñoz Rivera
372:Luis Muñoz Rivera
317:Associate Justice
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169:November 20, 1878
85:Luis Muñoz Rivera
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92:Succeeded by
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21:Spanish name
775:1938 deaths
770:1878 births
364:Union Party
275:Early years
265:Puerto Rico
259:leader and
176:Puerto Rico
123:Preceded by
80:Preceded by
764:Categories
589:1932–1938
556:1916–1932
466:References
313:Jorge Luis
165:1878-11-20
735:Pierluisi
650:Larrínaga
395:influenza
341:Aguadilla
257:political
228:Education
208:Spouse(s)
172:Vega Baja
113:In office
70:In office
740:González
715:Colorado
670:Iglesias
665:Pesquera
500:Archived
482:Archived
433:See also
218:Children
202:Unionist
19:In this
730:Fortuño
700:Benítez
695:Córdova
690:Polanco
645:Degetau
495:1. See
345:Guayama
319:in the
29:Córdova
25:surname
710:Fuster
680:Piñero
417:, Dr.
337:Caguas
289:Manati
285:Jayuya
33:Dávila
675:Pagán
425:Death
263:from
261:judge
222:Jorge
478:See
182:Died
155:Born
300:in
240:LLB
27:is
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