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Pedro Albizu Campos. Pedro Albizu Campos, a Puerto Rican attorney and politician who spoke six languages, was the de facto leader of the Puerto Rican independence movement. He was the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico president until his death. He led the nationalist revolts of October 1950 against the US government in Puerto Rico and was imprisoned 26 years in prison at different times for his independence activities. In 1921, with the highest GPA in his class at Harvard Law School, he earned the right to give the valedictorian speech at his graduation ceremony, but racism led to his professors delaying two of his final exams in order to keep him from graduating on time. While at Harvard he became involved in the Irish struggle for independence with Irish nationalist James Connolly. Campos died in 1965 shortly after his release from federal prison. Campos was the subject of human radiation experiments in prison, though U.S. authorities falsely claimed he’d suffered a stroke. Revolutionary and visionary, Pedro Albizu Campos is arguably the father of the Puerto Rican Independence Movement.