| Félix Benítez Rexach | |
| Birth Date: | March 27, 1886 |
| Birth Place: | Vieques, Puerto Rico |
| Death Date: | November 2, 1975 |
| Death Place: | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Nationality: | Puerto Rican |
| Spouse: | Lucienne Dhotelle |
| Occupation: | Engineer and businessman |
| Movement: | Puerto Rican Independence |
| Known For: | Building the Normandie Hotel |
Félix Benítez Rexach (March 27, 1886 - November 2, 1975) was a Puerto Rican engineer and businessman who built the Normandie Hotel, located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Benitez Rexach was born in Vieques. In 1928, he fell in love with and married Lucienne Dhotelle, a French singer better known as La Môme Moineau (the kid sparrow).[1] [2]
Benítez Rexach decided to surprise his wife with the construction of a yacht as a replica of the majestic ship. Moineau wasn't satisfied and Benítez Rexach decided then to construct a hotel with the form of a great transatlantic vessel. Designed by architect Raúl Reichard (1908–1996), the hotel began construction in 1938. He named the "Normandie Hotel" in honor of the French liner and presented it as a gift to his beloved wife and to the people of Puerto Rico. The hotel opened on October 10, 1942[3] at an estimated cost of more than US$2,000,000.
Rexach designed and/or built a number of Puerto Rico's historic bridges, including the "futuristic" Bridge No. 122 and Las Cabañas Bridge (both of those being joint works with designer Rafael Nones).[4]
Benítez Rexach also worked on various projects in the Dominican Republic, as a consequence of the friendship which he had with that country's dictator, Rafael L. Trujillo. Among his works in that country were the Port of Santo Domingo and the "Avenida Jorge Washington" (George Washington Avenue).[5]
Benítez Rexach was a passionate Puerto Rican patriot and a personal friend of Pedro Albizu Campos, president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. He was a firm believer in the Puerto Rican independence movement and once visited Luis A. Ferré, the pro-statehood Governor of Puerto Rico, at the governor's mansion and asked him to proclaim the independence of Puerto Rico, since in his words: "Puerto Rico was a superior nation and the most developed in the Caribbean."[5]