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An
exemplary Miamian
Posted on Fri, Sep. 26, 2003
in The
Miami Herald.
In Memoriam: Luis J. Botifoll united people
and built communities
South Florida has lost an activist who crossed
ethnic divides to give back to his adopted community.
For decades Luis J. Botifoll stood out as a uniter
of Hispanics and non-Hispanics. A passionate advocate
for a free Cuba to the end, he died Wednesday
night at age 95. Only hours earlier he had attended
an exile meeting with Spanish Prime Minister José
María Aznar.
Already an accomplished lawyer and newspaper
publisher in Cuba, Mr. Botifoll and his family
came to Miami in 1960 fleeing the revolution.
Rather than rest on his laurels, at age 52 he
jumped into anti-Castro efforts and began building
a new life. In the 1970s he began working for
Republic Bank and helped to pioneer a new concept:
lending money to Cuban exiles who had character
but no collateral. As their businesses prospered,
so, too, did Miami. Mr. Botifoll became the bank's
chairman, and he led it to become the nation's
largest Hispanic-owned bank.
At the same time, Mr. Botifoll built bridges
between Miami's Cuban exiles and its American
establishment. He was among the first Cuban Americans
to donate time to Miami-Dade's United Way, the
University of Miami, the Greater Miami Chamber
of Commerce and other civic causes. He was a member
of the influential Non-Group and co-founded its
Hispanic counterpart Mesa Redonda (the Round Table),
and active in the Cuban American National Foundation
and other groups devoted to exile causes.
A Renaissance man, Mr. Botifoll earned admiration
and praise for his professional and civic contributions.
May he rest in peace with Aurora, his beloved
wife of 70 years who died last month.
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