Maurice Antonio Ferré was an American politician who served six terms as the Mayor of Miami. Ferré was the first Puerto Rican-bornUnited States mayor and the first Latino Mayor of Miami. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2010 elections for the U.S. Senate seat for Florida vacated by Mel Martínez for the Democratic primary.
Early years
Ferre was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He was the son of businessman José Ferré and nephew of governor of Puerto Rico Luis A. Ferré. Ferre's father José visited Miami, Florida in the 1920s and wondered why the city did not have any tall buildings. He then ventured into construction and real estate development in Miami. Ferré was born when José and his family returned to his hometown, Ponce in Puerto Rico. Ferré was a graduate of the University of Miami. Ferré served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1967–1968. He served as mayor of Miami from 1973 to 1985. From 1993 to 1996, Ferré was Vice-Chairman of the Dade County Board of Commissioners. He was active in national political campaigns and was a member of several presidential advisory boards. Ferré also worked as a banker and business consultant and held various research and teaching posts. On December 20, 1995, Francisco Ferré Malaussena, Mariana Gómez de Ferré, and Felipe Antonio Ferré Gómez, the son, daughter-in-law, and grandson of Ferré, died when American Airlines Flight 965 crashed into a mountain in Colombia. In November 2001, Ferré lost his bid to be reelected Mayor of Miami.
Later years
Ferré was on a fellowship at Princeton University and was writing a book about the contributions Hispanics have made to the American culture. Ferré was one of the driving forces behind the INTERMESTIC dialogue, which attempts to seek consensus regarding Puerto Rico's political status problem from an "international" as well as "domestic" point of view. He spoke about this effort to deal with Puerto Rico's political status in an address to the Puerto Rico Senate as keynote speaker during the Governors' Day special session on February 16, 2006. In October 2009, Ferré announced that he was running for the open U.S. Senate seat of Mel Martinez. He finished in last place in the Democratic primary. To pay tribute to him and his legacy a park district in Miami formerly called Museum Park was named after him in early 2019. Ferre died in Miami on September 19, 2019 from spinal cancer at the age of 84.
