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Mathias Brugman a.k.a. Mathias Bruckman (January 3, 1811 – September 30, 1868, born in New Orleans, Louisiana) was a leader in Puerto Rico's independence revolution against Spain known as El Grito de Lares (Lares' Cry).

Mathias Brugman

Brugman's father was Pierre Burgman from Curaçao of Dutch ancestry and his mother, Isabel Duliebre from Puerto Rico. They met and married in New Orleans. He was raised and educated in Louisiana.

Burgman family moved to Puerto Rico and settled in the City of Mayagüez, there he met and married Ana Maria Lalorde. He opened a colmado (grocery store) and became rather successful, only to lose a good part of his fortune attempting to grow coffee. Like many other Puerto Ricans at the time, he resented the political injustices practiced by Spain in the island. This led him to become a believer in the cause of the Puerto Rican independence movement.

Bruckman admired "Ramon Emeterio Betances" and "Segundo Ruiz Belvis". It was this admiration which inspired him to become an outspoken advocate for independence.

In his Colmado, people would normally gather on a daily basis to discuss politics. Brugman eventually befriended Manuel Rojas and his brother, Miguel and joined them in the conspiracy to revolt against Spain. Together, with a group of other patriots, they formed revolutionary committees. These committees were mainly based on the west coast towns of Puerto Rico. The first revolutionary committee formed was Mathias Brugman's in Mayagüez. He used his Colmado as his headquarters and its code name was: "Capa Prieto". Manuel Rojas committee in Lares was code named "Centro Bravo".

On September 23, 1868, the revolution began and the town of Lares was taken in what was to be known as El "Grito de Lares". The revolutionists declared Puerto Rico to be the free "Republic of Puerto Rico". However, the Spanish were already forewarned and soon defeated the small Army of liberators.

Mathias Brugman and Baldomero Baurer (a fellow revolutionist) went into hiding. Many of the others were either killed or imprisoned, including Manuel Rojas and Mariana Bracetti. On September 30, 1868, a farm worker, Francisco Qiñones, who worked in the Asuncion Plantation, betrayed Brugman and Baurer and led the Spanish authorities to where they were hiding. Brugman and Baurer refused to surrender and eventually were executed.

Mathias Brugman died in the town of Yauco, Puerto Rico in 1868.

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