Gilberto Concepción de Gracia

Gilberto Concepción de Gracia (1909-1968) was a Puerto Rican lawyer and politician who founded the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) in 1946 — the oldest existing political party advocating for independence through electoral means.

Concepción de Gracia represented a democratic alternative to both the Nationalist Party's militancy and the Popular Democratic Party's accommodation to colonial status. He ran for governor in 1948, receiving 10.2% of the vote — the highest percentage ever received by an independence candidate in a Puerto Rican election.

He advocated for Puerto Rico's case at the United Nations, arguing that the establishment of the Commonwealth in 1952 did not constitute genuine self-determination. He practiced law in both Puerto Rico and the United States, and founded the newspaper El Batey.

Under his leadership, the PIP brought the independence cause into the electoral arena, demonstrating that support for independence was substantial even under conditions of intense political repression (the Gag Law era). The party he founded continues to operate today as one of Puerto Rico's principal political organizations.