Emilio Belaval Maldonado S. (born November 8, 1903 - died March 30, 1972) served for 9 years as an

Associate Justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...

of the

Supreme Court of Puerto Rico The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico ( es, Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico) is the highest court of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority to interpret and decide questions of Puerto Rican law. The Court is analogous to one of the state supreme c ...

from 1953 to 1967. Belaval Maldonado was born in

Fajardo, Puerto Rico Fajardo (, ) is a town and municipality -Fajardo Combined Statistical Area. Fajardo is the hub of much of the recreational boating in Puerto Rico and a popular launching port to Culebra, Vieques, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. It is ...

, and graduated from the

University of Puerto Rico School of Law The University of Puerto Rico School of Law is a law school in Puerto Rico. It is one of the professional graduate schools of University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus and the only law school in the University of Puerto Rico System. It ...

in 1927. In the field of law, he was a district judge, and later, an associate justice of the Supreme Court appointed by Puerto Rico Governor

Luis Muñoz Marín José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín (February 18, 1898April 30, 1980) was a Puerto Rican journalist, politician, statesman and was the first elected governor of Puerto Rico, regarded as the "Architect of the Puerto Rico Commonwealth." In 1948 he ...

and Secretary of the Hayes Committee, who was in charge of the investigation of the events of the Ponce massacre. From a young age, Belaval Maldonado felt a love for writing and his first verses appeared in a Puerto Rico illustrated magazine, when he was just 14 years old. Belaval Maldonado devoted himself to the cultivation of the tale, from their initial two books: El Libro Azul (1918) and Cuentos para Celegiales (1922). In his stories he reflects about the Puerto Rican social reality. He was also president of

Ateneo Puertorriqueño The Ateneo Puertorriqueño (Puerto Rican Athenaeum), is a cultural institution in Puerto Rico. Founded on April 30, 1876, it has been called Puerto Rico's oldest cultural institution, however, it is actually its third oldest overall and second c ...

a cultural institution. Belaval Maldonado died on March 30, 1972, at age 69 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 ...

References

1903 births 1972 deaths People from Fajardo, Puerto Rico University of Puerto Rico alumni Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico Puerto Rican lawyers Puerto Rican male writers 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American judges 20th-century American male writers {{US-state-judge-stub