Isabel Freire de Matos
| Isabel Freire de Matos | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 2, 1915 Cidra, Puerto Rico |
| Died | September 30, 2004 Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico |
| Nationality | Puerto Rican |
| Occupation | Writer, educator, and journalist |
| Political party | Puerto Rican Nationalist Party |
| Movement | Puerto Rican Independence |
| Spouse(s) | Francisco Matos Paoli |
| Children | Susana Isabel María Soledad |
Isabel Freire de Matos (February 2, 1915 – September 30, 2004) was a writer, educator, journalist, and activist for Puerto Rican independence. Freire de Matos was the author of several children's books and the wife of Francisco Matos Paoli, a high-ranking member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party.
Freire de Matos (birth name: Isabel Freire Meléndez ) was born in the town of Cidra, Puerto Rico. There she received her primary and secondary education. During her years as a child she became interested in juvenile literature and poetry. After graduating from high school she attended the University of Puerto Rico where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in education.
During her years as a student at the university she became interested in the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and an advocate for Puerto Rico's independence. She continued her postgraduate studies in the UPR and moved to Paris, France for a year to study comparative literature at the Sorbonne. There she met Francisco Matos Paoli, a fellow independence advocate who in 1942 became her husband.
After she returned to Puerto Rico, she began to work in the public and private school systems of the island. She co-authored a children's book titled El libro Isla para niños (The island book for children) with her husband.
The written work of Freire de Matos's husband was influenced by the political situation going on the island at the time. On May 21, 1948, a bill was introduced before the Puerto Rican Senate which would restrain the rights of the independence and nationalist movements in the island. The Senate at the time was controlled by the PPD and presided by Luis Muñoz Marín approved the Bill. The Bill, also known as the "Ley de la Mordaza" (gag Law), made it illegal to display a Puerto Rican flag, to sing a patriotic tune, to talk of independence, and to fight for the liberation of the island. The Bill which resembled the anti-communist Smith Law passed in the United States, was signed and made into law on June 10, 1948, by the U.S.-appointed governor of Puerto Rico, Jesús T. Piñero and became known as "Ley 53" (Law 53). In accordance to the new law, it would be a crime to print, publish, sale, to exhibit or organize or to help anyone organize any society, group or assembly of people whose intentions are to paralyze or destroy the insular government. Anyone accused and found guilty of disobeying the law could be sentenced to ten years of prison, be fined $10,000 dollars (US) or both. According to Dr. Leopoldo Figueroa, a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, the law was repressive and was in violation of the First Amendment to the US Constitution which guarantees Freedom of Speech. He pointed out that the law as such was a violation of the civil rights of the people of Puerto Rico. In 1949, the Nationalist Party held an assembly in the town of Arecibo and named Paoli Secretary General of the party. Some of his duties as Secretary General of the party included the presentation of patriotic speeches. Due to Law 53, these duties placed her husband on a collision course with the U.S. government.
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