Alfonso Valdés Cobián (June 23, 1890 - February 14, 1988), was an industrialist, banker, sportsman and politician. Valdés Cobián was a cofounder of Cervecería India, Inc., currently Puerto Rico's largest beer brewery.

Early years

Valdés Cobián was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico to Ramon and Encarnación Cobián. When he was a child his family moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and lived in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. While living there he attended the Hamilton institute, a preparatory school, and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, where he received a degree in electrical engineering in 1911. The family returned to Puerto Rico and in 1910, his father, Ramón Valdés founded and organized the "Mayaguez Light, Power and Ice Company", a utility in the city of Mayagüez. The elder Valdés named Alfonso the company's vice president in 1915.Guía del Turismo en Mayagüez, Clásico de Mayagüez "La Cervecería India", (Spanish) The Government took over all power generation in the late 1930s and the company is now operated by "La Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica de Puerto Rico" (The Puerto Rico Electric Energy Authority).

Cervecería India

Admiral Leahy confers with Puerto Rican Officials

Mayagüez is known as "La Ciudad de las Aguas Puras" (The City of the Pure Waters) because of the quality of its waters. The nickname originated because of the quality of the waters from the Yagüez River. The word "Yagüez" is Taino for "Place of pure and clear waters" . Valdés Cobián's brother Sabino, took a sample of the waters of Mayagüez to the Wallestein Laboratory in New York which confirmed the quality of the waters for the elaboration of beer. Valdés Cobián and his brothers, Sabino and Ramón decided to build a brewery in Mayagüez and on November 2, 1937, they founded the

Compañía Cervecera de Puerto Rico The Compañía Cervecera de Puerto Rico (formerly known as Cervecería India) is a large brewery in Puerto Rico. It is located in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. The company's main brand is ''Medalla Light''. History The company was founded on November ...

which was later renamed Cervecería India. The company competed with two other native beer breweries, "Real" and "Corona". Corona would later be launched in Mexico. Valdés Cobián, as chairman and president, successfully led his company converting it into Puerto Rico's largest beer brewery and manufacture of canned and bottled soft drinks. Besides his chairmanship of Cervecería India, Valdés Cobián held the

Orange Crush Crush is a brand of carbonated soft drinks owned and marketed internationally by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally created as an orange soda, Orange Crush. Crush competes with Coca-Cola's Fanta. It was created in 1911 by beverage and extract chemi ...

soft-drink franchise and was president of the Ana Maria Sugar Company and the Insular Feed Mill. For 25 years he was the major stockholder and board chairman of the Banco Credito y Ahorro Ponceno, which at the time was the second largest bank in Puerto Rico.

Team owner

Valdés Cobián was a founder of the Puerto Rican winter baseball league and owned the

Indios de Mayagüez The Indios de Mayagüez (Mayagüez Indians) are a baseball team in Puerto Rico's Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League, in Spanish). Based in Mayagüez, the ''Indios'' have won 18 national ...

(Mayagüez Indians), the most successful team in the history of the Puerto Rican League. The team was founded in 1938, and once the

Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places * El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines * Puerto Colombia, Colombia * Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela * Puerto Galera, O ...

(LBPPR in Spanish) was created, the Mayagüez team became a part of it. A management team led by Valdés Cobián owned the team during its initial years.

Politician

Valdés Cobián was elected in 1917 to the

Puerto Rico House of Representatives The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico ( es, Cámara de Representantes de Puerto Rico) is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the bicameral territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The House, together with the Sen ...

representing the district of Mayagüez, position in which he served until 1928. In 1928 he won his first of three terms as a member of the

Senate of Puerto Rico The Senate of Puerto Rico ( es, Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control t ...

, and also became president of the Puerto Rican Republican Party.

Later years

In 1960 he was president of the

Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association The Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association (PRMA) es, Asociación de Industriales de Puerto Rico is a private, non-profit, and voluntary trade association in Puerto Rico formed with the intent of joining the manufacturing and service industries ...

. Valdés Cobián lived in Villa Caparra, a San Juan suburb. On February 8, 1988, Valdés Cobián died in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...

, after suffering a heart attack two days earlier, at the age of 98. Valdés Cobián was buried in Bayamón's Porta Coeli Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Grace García, whom he married on August 14, 1939, two daughters, Grace Marie, Encarnita Quinlan and a son, Alfonso Jr., and five grandchildren. After his death, his wife became the president of brewery until her retirement in 2002, when her granddaughter, Camalia Valdés assumed the presidency of the company.

Legacy

The City of Mayagüez honored his memory by naming the street where the Cervecería India Inc. is located Avenida (Blvd.) Alfonso Valdez.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valdes Cobian, Alfonso 1890 births 1988 deaths People from Bayamón, Puerto Rico 20th-century Puerto Rican businesspeople Puerto Rican sports businesspeople Members of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico Members of the Senate of Puerto Rico Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni 20th-century American politicians American brewers Businesspeople in electricity