Ernesto Ramos Antonini - Early Years

Early Years

Ramos Antonini was born into a poor family in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. He was the youngest child of the marriage between Federico Ramos Escalera and Rosa Antonini Danseau. When he was three months old, the family moved to Ponce, Puerto Rico, where he spent the next 43 years of his life. As a child, his parents taught him the importance of a getting a good education. During the day he dedicated himself to his school studies and during his free time he was taught how to play the piano by his father who happened to be a musician. He graduated from Ponce High School in 1918, at 19 years of age. After he graduated from high school, Ramos Antonini enrolled at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras (which is now a part of San Juan) to study law. He paid for his school tuition by playing piano at a local theatre and in 1922 earned his law degree. He returned to Ponce where he taught math, became president of the Ponce Municipal Assembly and established his law firm.

In 1937 he gained fame as a lawyer when he defended the members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party who were accused of breaking the law after permits issued by the Mayor of Ponce for a peaceful march in Ponce (see the Ponce Massacre) were withdrawn by the colonial governor of Puerto Rico at the time, General Blanton Winship. Upon the withdrawal of the permits, the police opened fire on the crowd in what became known as the Ponce Massacre. He also became known as a defender of the working class by being active in the International Workers Congress. He appeared before the U.S. Congress and defended the Puerto Rican workers who were being abused by the American companies established in the island.