José de Nouvilas de Vilar (1856 – 1931) was Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico, from 3 January 1893Socorro Girón. Ponce, el teatro La Perla y La Campana de la Almudaina. Gobierno Municipal de Ponce. 3ra Edición. 1992. p.284. to 9 August 1894.Socorro Girón. Ponce, el teatro La Perla y La Campana de la Almudaina. Gobierno Municipal de Ponce. 3ra Edición. 1992. p.289. He was a soldier in the Spanish military and held the rank of "General de Brigada".
Background Nouvilas de Vilar had been Ponce Police Chief immediately prior to his first day as mayor. He had garnished the sympathy of the townspeople for his fair application of law enforcement, in particular for the treatment of residents during the popular and commercial protests of 7–10 September 1892 to the Madrid's tax increase. During these protests Nouvilas de Vilar had prohibited his police force from using any violence against the residents.Félix Pubill. La Administración Municipal de Ponce: Memoria de las gestiones practicadas en la Administración Municipal de Ponce, por los Alcaldes y Ayuntamientos que ha tenido desde el año 1882 al 1900. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Tipografía José Picó Matos. 1900. p. 59.
Mayoral term Nouvilas became mayor of Ponce on 3 January 1893 and he mayored the municipality until 9 August 1894. During this time he spearheaded the development of a working group of women for the creation of a shelter for Ponce's homeless elderly. In 1893, noticing the large number of elderly beggars that crowded the city streets, he had the urge that something needed to be done to help these group of people. A significant amount from the estate of Miguel Arribas was also donated to the municipality for this purpose.Félix Pubill. La Administración Municipal de Ponce: Memoria de las gestiones practicadas en la Administración Municipal de Ponce, por los Alcaldes y Ayuntamientos que ha tenido desde el año 1882 al 1900. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Tipografía José Picó Matos. 1900. p. 61. As a result of his leadership, and the many donations that came in, by November 1894 an Asilo de Ancianos (Shelter for the Elderly) opened at Calle Mendez Vigo #37.Eduardo Neumann Gandia. Verdadera y Autentica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1913. pp.109-110. Later, encountering declining health, Nouvilas de Vilar traveled to the Peninsula for medical treatment, from where he resigned his mayoral post.Félix Pubill. La Administración Municipal de Ponce: Memoria de las gestiones practicadas en la Administración Municipal de Ponce, por los Alcaldes y Ayuntamientos que ha tenido desde el año 1882 al 1900. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Tipografía José Picó Matos. 1900. p. 62. However, under the pretext of public safety, he also ordered the "alcaldes de barrio" to "enter all private homes in their jurisdiction and assess their physical condition."Ileana M. Rodriguez Silva. Silencing Race: Disentangling blackness, colonialism, and national identities in Puerto Rico. Palgrave Macmillan. 2012. p. 103.
Legacy Nouvilas is remembered for issuing an anti-prostitution edict, the Reglamento de Higiene de la Prostitución (Prostitution Higiene Decree), intended to "correct immorality in Ponce".Socorro Girón. Ponce, el teatro La Perla y La Campana de la Almudaina. Gobierno Municipal de Ponce. 3rd Edición. 1992. p.284, and 290-302.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans List of mayors of Ponce, Puerto Rico
Notes
References
Further reading Ramon Marin. Las Fiestas Populares de Ponce. Editorial Universidad de Puerto Rico. 1994. Eileen J. Suarez Findlay. Imposing Decency: The Politics of Sexuality and Race in Puerto Rico, 1870-1920. Duke University Press. 1999. Fay Fowlie de Flores. Ponce, Perla del Sur: Una Bibliográfica Anotada. Second Edition. 1997. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Universidad de Puerto Rico en Ponce. p. 256. Item 1287. Government of Puerto Rico. Circular del Gobierno General sobre incendios, Junio 6 de 1893. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Establecimiento Tipográfico de M. Lopez. 1893. (Archivo Histórico de Ponce, AHP). Fay Fowlie de Flores. Ponce, Perla del Sur: Una Bibliográfica Anotada. Second Edition. 1997. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Universidad de Puerto Rico en Ponce. p. 335. Item 1669. Ponce. Presupuesto municipal para el ejercicio 1893 a 1894. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Tipografía El Vapor, s.f. (Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras)
External links Guardia Civil española (c. 1898) (Includes military ranks in 1880s Spanish Empire.)