De Valera
EAMON, President of the "Irish Republic." He was born in New York in 1882, the son of a Spanish artist (Vivión De Valera), and an Irish mother (Catherine Coll). His father died before the son was three years old and the boy was taken to Ireland to be cared for by his maternal grandmother.
He received his education in the school of Bruree, Limerick. He entered Blackrock College, Dublin, and after receiving his degree, taught mathematics at Rockwell College, Cashel. He taught at Maynooth Seminary and at Carysport Normal College, Dublin. He became a member of Gaelic League, and participated in the Gaelic revival. De Valera was prominent among the organizers of the Irish Volunteers in 1913, and when the insurrection against British rule broke out in Ireland during Easter week, 1916, he commanded, with Padraic Pearse, the battalion which held the Dublin postoffice and was the last to lay down his arms. On the proclamation of the Irish Republic by the members of the Dail Eireann, assembled in Dublin, De Valera was elected President to succeed Padraic Pearse, who had been executed. He was imprisoned several times and was sentenced to death in 1916. In 1919 he escaped from his prison in England and came to America, where during 1919 and 1920 he toured the country, making speeches. In September, 1920, he replied to Lord Grey's proposal of dominion home rule by declaring that the Irish people had established a republic and would be content with nothing short of absolute independence.