Abelardo Díaz Alfaro (July 24, 1916 – July 22, 1999) was an author from

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

who achieved great fame throughout

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

during the 1940s. His book ''Campo Alegre'' is a text that has been studied at schools in Austria, Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand as well as all over the Americas.Salon Hogar

Life and career

Díaz Alfaro was born in

Caguas, Puerto Rico Caguas (, ) is a Caguas barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in central eastern Puerto Rico. Located in the eponymous Caguas Valley between the Sierra de Cayey and Sierra de Luquillo of the Cordillera Central (Puer ...

, but soon after his family moved to Ponce. He was the son of Abelardo Díaz Morales, a Baptist minister, and Asunción Alfaro Pratts (Doña Sunchita). His siblings were Abigail, Dalila, Miriam, Priscilla, Raquel, Lydia and Samuel. He returned to Caguas to attend university and married Gladys Meaux, with whom he had two daughters (Dalila and Nanette) and one son (Abelardo). Díaz Alfaro obtained a bachelor's degree in arts at the ''Instituto Politécnico de San Germán'', which is now known as Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico. He also obtained a title as a social worker, and certificates in Spanish and

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. He obtained many honorary doctorates from different universities. Some of his short stories, like "Peyo Mercé enseña inglés" or "Santa Cló va a la Cuchilla" (in ''

Terrazo ''Terrazo'' is a book written in 1947 by Puerto Rican writer Abelardo Díaz Alfaro. The book won many awards, including that of the Sociedad de Periodistas Universitario y Instituto de Literatura Puertorriqueña, and made it to the national lib ...

'') create a

Manichaean Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 found ...

dichotomy between unlearned Puerto Rican peasants and American invaders (portrayed through the mandatory teaching of the English language in Puerto Rico). Thus, a praise of layman culture is expressed throughout his short stories. The metaphor of weak or feminine Americans versus uneducated but brave Puerto Ricans is taken later by other writers like Ana Lydia Vega. He presented at conferences in many parts of Latin America after reaching fame, including in Mexico (at the ''Ateneo Español''),

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and many other countries. His books have been translated into English, Polish, Russian, German, French, Italian and Czech, among other languages.

Works

Among the books he wrote are: * ''

'' (published in 1947) * '' Mi Isla Soñada'' * ''

Los Perros LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

'' * '' The Eye of the Heart'' * '' United States in Literature'' * '' Classic Tales of Spanish America'' * '' Cuentos del Mundo Hispano'' (Spanish version of ''Classic Tales'') * '' Changes Antología Mundial'' * '' The Green Antilles'' * '' Contemporary Readers'' * '' National Catholic'' * '' The Princeton Tiger'' * ''

Europe in France Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

'' * '' Campo Alegre''. *''

Santa Clo va a la cuchilla (cuento) Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Christma ...

References

1916 births 1999 deaths Burials at Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery Puerto Rican male short story writers Puerto Rican short story writers Puerto Rican male writers People from Caguas, Puerto Rico 20th-century American male writers {{PuertoRico-bio-stub

Life and career

Works

See also

References