Dr. Arturo Morales Carrión (November 16, 1913 – June 28, 1989) was a historian, educator, public servant and humanist as Gov.
Rafael Hernández Colón
Rafael Hernández Colón (October 24, 1936 – May 2, 2019) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1973 to 1977 and 1985 to 1993 for a total of three terms. An experienced politician, Hernández held the ...
eulogized him, "one of the principal figures" in the history of Puerto Rico, after having served under Gov.
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 ...
as Under Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, under President
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, as special assistant to the Secretary General of the
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...
and as President of the
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...
(1973-1977).
Early life
Born in on November 17, 1913
Havana, Cuba
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Puerto Rican parents, he studied at the Vila Mayo High School, and graduated in 1931 from the
University High School University High School may refer to:
Australia
* University High School, Melbourne, Victoria
Canada
* University Hill Secondary School, Vancouver, British Columbia
United States Arizona
* University High School (Tolleson)
* University High Sc ...
(UHS), the alma mater of many prominent Puerto Ricans, before obtaining a B. A. degree, majoring in History and Political Science from the University of Puerto Rico in 1935. He obtained an M.A. in Latin American Studies from the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
in 1936 and, later in life, obtained his Ph.D. in History and Government from
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in 1950. In 1948 he married Inés Arandes Rexach, with whom he had two sons, Arturo and Edgardo, and one daughter, Inés Morales Arandes.
Public life
In 1953, Gov. Muñoz and Secretary of State
Roberto Sánchez Vilella
Roberto Sánchez Vilella (19 February 1913 – 24 March 1997) was the governor of Puerto Rico from 1965 to 1969. Sánchez Vilella successfully ran for governor in the 1964 elections for the ''Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico, Partido Po ...
appointed Morales Carrión as Under Secretary of State, the position held for eleven of the past 22 years by José Rodríguez Suárez, and a post he held until 1961 for eight years. During that period, he spearheaded efforts to provide technical assistance to neighboring nations and promoting cultural exchanges.
In 1961, President Kennedy appointed Dr. Morales Carrión as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs until 1964, and helped organize the
Alliance for Progress
The Alliance for Progress () was an initiative launched by U.S. President John F. Kennedy on March 13, 1961, that aimed to establish economic cooperation between the U.S. and Latin America. Governor Luis Muñoz Marín of Puerto Rico was a close ...
led by a fellow Puerto Rican,
Teodoro Moscoso
José Teodoro Moscoso Mora Rico Puerto Rico. Noticel. June 15, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012. ...
.
From 1964 to 1969, he served as Special Assistant to the Secretary General of the OAS.
Back in Puerto Rico, in 1973, he was chosen as President of UPR, a post he held until 1977. At UPR, he had earlier been chairman of its History Department, founded decades ago by Dr. Pilar Barbosa. At UPR, and as its president, he created the Center for Historic Research. He also founded the Puerto Rico Foundation of the Humanities and served as its Executive Director until his death in 1989.
Throughout his life, he served as visiting professor at innumerable institutions of higher learning, including
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
. Columbia University,
George Washington University
The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...
and the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
, as well as other universities in the Caribbean and Latin America.
Death
Arturo Morales Carrión died on June 28, 1989, in
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...
. He was buried at
Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery
__NOTOC__
The Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery () is a colonial-era Catholic cemetery located in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is the final resting place of many of Puerto Rico's most prominent natives and residents. Construction began in ...
in
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...
.
Honors and recognitions
Thirteen years after his death, the
Interamerican University of Puerto Rico
The Inter American University of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico''; often abbreviated to ''UIPR'' or ''Inter'') is a private Christian university with its main campus in San Germán, Puerto Rico. It also has ...
published a 1,000-plus page biography of Morales Carrión, edited by professor Héctor Luis Acevedo, that was presented at the Puerto Rico State Department on Nov. 14, 2012, with
Acting Governor
An acting governor is a person who acts in the role of governor. In Commonwealth jurisdictions where the governor is a vice-regal position, the role of "acting governor" may be filled by a lieutenant governor (as in most Australian states) or a ...
Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth Davison McClintock-Hernández (born January 19, 1957) is a politician who served as the twenty-second Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, one of the four longest serving in that post. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s N ...
offering remarks.
Selected publications
Puerto Rico: A Political and Cultural History. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1983. (in English)
History of the People of Puerto Rico (in Spanish)
Albores Históricos del Capitalismo en Puerto Rico, 1972 (in Spanish)
Interamerican University of Puerto Rico
The Inter American University of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico''; often abbreviated to ''UIPR'' or ''Inter'') is a private Christian university with its main campus in San Germán, Puerto Rico. It also has ...