Francisco Rojas Tollinchi
(May 30, 1911 – 1965), was a
Puerto Rican poet, civic leader and journalist.
Early years
Rojas Tollinchi (birth name: Francisco Antonio Rojas Tollinchi) was one of five siblings born to Pedro Rojas Perez and Flora Maria Tollinchi Battistini in the barrio Algarrobos in
Yauco, Puerto Rico
Yauco () is a town and municipality in southern Puerto Rico. Although the downtown is inland, the municipality stretches to a southern coast facing the Caribbean Sea. Yauco is located south of Maricao, Lares and Adjuntas; east of Sabana Grande ...
. He had to abandon his secondary education at the age of 16, to help his family during his family's financial crisis. He later returned to school and completed his required studies and graduated from high school. In 1934, he married Elena Cummings and together had thirteen children. Rojas Tollinchi worked in various jobs before working for the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (AAA), a government agency which controls all the water storage and distribution functions in Puerto Rico. He was the President of the
Ponce chapter of the Union of Employees of the AAA and Vice-president of the general Union in the island.
["JUSTIPRECIACIÓN DE LA OBRADE FRANCISCO ROJAS TOLLINCHI"; by Ada Hilda Martínez de Alicea; Dept. Estudios Hispánicos Pontificia Universidad Católica de PR.]
Poet
From 1962 to 1964, Rojas Tollinchi founded and was the managing director of "El Pozo," a monthly newspaper of the Union of Employees of the AAA. Lacking the financial means to publish his work, Rojas Tollinchi used different pen names to publish it in ''El Pozo.'' One of his readers, Antonio Rodríguez Menéndez, discovered Tollinchi's talent through ''El Pozo,'' and provided him with financial aid to publish his work in the "Ediciones Yaurinque".
["MLA handbook for writers of research papers (7th ed.)"]
Tollinchi's published works include ''Fronda Virgen'' (1940); ''Cien Sonetos en Cuatro Panfletos'' (One Hundred Sonnets in Four Pamphlets, 1944); ''Relicario Sonoro'' (Shrine of Sound, 1945); ''Sonetos de la Vida, el Amor y la Muerte'' (Sonnets of Life, Love and Death, 1955); and ''Silencio de Dios'' (Silence of God, 1956). Two of his poems in "Relicario Sonoro" were dedicated to the heroes of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
from Yauco. The first ''Recuerdo Yaucano'' (Remembrance of a Yaucano) was a homage to Brigadier General
Mihiel Gilormini
Brigadier General Mihiel "Mike" Gilormini Pacheco (August 3, 1918 – January 29, 1988) was a United States Air Force officer who served in the Royal Air Force and in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He was the recipient of t ...
, the Puerto Rican aviator and war hero. The second poem ''Al Sesenta y Cinco de Infantería'' (To the
65th Infantry Regiment
The 65th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed "The Borinqueneers" during the Korean War for the original Taíno Indian name for Puerto Rico (Borinquen), is a Puerto Rican regiment of the United States Army. The regiment's motto is ''Honor et Fidelita ...
) was dedicated to the all-Puerto Rican unit of the same name, whose members included many men from Yauco.
Later years and legacy
Rojas Tollinchi was general manager of the newspaper ''La Nueva Reforma'' (The New Reform). He was also a civic leader and belonged to the League for Struggle for Negro Rights (LSNR). In 1957, he attended the First Congress of Puerto Rican Poets. He was also a collaborator in the publication of the Historical Alum of Yauco.
Rojas Tollinchi moved to Ponce in 1959, and lived there until his death in 1965. His hometown, Yauco, honored his memory by naming a street after him.
Further reading
*American Psychological Association. (2010)
*Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: The Author.Gibaldi, J. (2009)
*MLA handbook for writers of research papers (7th ed.)
*New York, NY: Modern Language Association of America.
See also
*
List of Puerto Ricans
*
Puerto Rican literature
Puerto Rican literature is the body of literature produced by writers of Puerto Rican descent. It evolved from the art of oral storytelling. Written works by the indigenous inhabitants of Puerto Rico were originally prohibited and repressed by th ...
*
List of Puerto Rican writers
This is a list of Puerto Rican literary figures, including poets, novelists, short story authors, and playwrights. It includes people who were born in Puerto Rico, people who are of Puerto Rican ancestry, and long-term residents or immigrants ...
*
Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico
Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico resulted in the 19th century from widespread economic and political changes in Europe that made life difficult for the peasant and agricultural classes in Corsica and other territories. The Second Industrial R ...
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rojas Tollinchi, Francisco
1911 births
1965 deaths
Puerto Rican poets
Puerto Rican male writers
Puerto Rican journalists
Puerto Rican activists
People from Yauco, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican people of Corsican descent
20th-century American poets
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
American male non-fiction writers
20th-century journalists