Félix Saurí Vivas

Félix Saurí Vivas (December 1850 – 25 December 1915), also known as Félix Saurí y Vivas, was a Spanish-Puerto Rican businessman and interim Mayor of Ponce, from 13 May 1895 to 11 July 1895.[1]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Saurí and the second or maternal family name is Vivas.
Félix Saurí Vivas
96th Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico
In office
13 May 1895[1] – 11 July 1895[1]
Preceded byEduardo Armstrong
Succeeded byJuan José Potous
Personal details
BornDecember 1850
Mataró, Barcelona, Spain[2][3]
Died25 December 1915 (aged 65)[4]
Ponce, Puerto Rico
NationalityPuerto Rican
ChildrenRafael[5]
ResidenceCasa Saurí, Ponce Puerto Rico
Occupationbusinessman, hacienda holder
Professionpolitician

Career

Saurí Vivas was born in Mataró in the Province of Barcelona to Pedro Saurí and Teresa Vivas.[4] He immigrated to Puerto Rico, where he was a businessman and hacienda holder.[6] He became mayor of Ponce in 1895.[7] In the same year, he also founded, with Juan Serralles Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño, one of the leading banking institutions in Puerto Rico for almost a century.[8]

Casa Saurí
Historic Casa Sauri — located at Plaza Muñoz Rivera, within the Ponce Historic Zone, in Barrio Segundo, Ponce, Puerto Rico.

In 1882, Saurí Vivas built a two-story home, which later became known as Casa Saurí, in downtown Ponce, across from Plaza Muñoz Rivera, in today's Ponce Historic Zone. The house is said to be the third-oldest residence still standing in Ponce.[9] It is located on the southwest corner of Calle Union and Calle Reina. In 1912, his home was used as the first site of Liceo Ponceño, Puerto Rico's first girls-only school.[10]

After Liceo Ponceño vacated the home around the 1950s-1960s, the house was occupied for several years by various small businesses, including a travel agency and a toy store. Subsequently, it was vacant for several years. Then, in 2006-2009, the 1882 Casa Saurí was meticulously renovated and adapted as part of a new hotel, the Ponce Plaza Hotel & Casino, which opened in 2009. The hotel design included a four-story addition located next to the house, and a parking garage.[11][9]

Legacy

In addition to leaving the majestic house in downtown Ponce as his legacy, mayor Félix Saurí Vivas is also honored at Ponce's Park of Illustrious Ponce Citizens.[12] His remains are located in the Cementerio Católico de Ponce.

See also

References
  1. Socorro Girón. Ponce, el teatro La Perla y La Campana de la Almudaina. Gobierno Municipal de Ponce. 1992. Page 317.
  2. 1910 United States Federal Census
  3. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957
  4. Puerto Rico, Civil Registrations, 1885-2001
  5. Luis Fortuno Janeiro. Album Histórico de Ponce (1692-1963). Page 374. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta Fortuno. 1963.
  6. SAURI v. SAURI. 45 F.2d 90 (1930). Archived 1 July 2012 at Archive.today SAURI v. SAURI et al. No. 2440. Circuit Court of Appeals, First Circuit. November 26, 1930. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  7. Ponce: Mayors. Archived 2012-07-07 at the Wayback Machine Encyclopedia Puerto Rico. Fundación Puertoriqueña de las Humanidades. 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  8. Memorias del Primer Congreso sobre la Emigración Española hacia el Area del Caribe desde Finales del Siglo XIX. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana: Fundación García Arévalo : Casa de España en Santo Domingo : Centro Cultural Español, 2002. Accessed 13 June 2019.
  9. "Abre hotel Ramada en Ponce con inversión local", NotiUno, San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  10. Luis Fortuño Janeiro. Album Histórico de Ponce (1692-1963). Page 374. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta Fortuño. 1963. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  11. Hotel Ponce Plaza. Archived 26 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Bonnin Orozco Arquitectos. 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  12. Politics. Travel Ponce. Politics section. Retrieved 28 February 2013.

Further reading
  • Fay Fowlie de Flores. Ponce, Perla del Sur: Una Bibliográfica Anotada. Second Edition. 1997. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Universidad de Puerto Rico en Ponce. p. 110. Item 566. LCCN 92-75480
  • Guillermo Atiles Garcia. Kaleidoscopio. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Establecimiento tipográfico de Manuel López. 1905. (Colegio Universitario Tecnológico de Ponce, CUTPO)


Political offices
Preceded by
Eduardo Armstrong		 Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico
13 May 1895 - 11 July 1895		 Succeeded by
Juan José Potous
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