Teófilo Villavicencio Marxuach (October 2, 1912 – February 29, 1992) was a pioneer in Puerto Rican

radio broadcasting Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio signal, audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a lan ...

. Joaquín Agusty Ramírez, Rafael Quiñones Vidal, and Villavicencio are considered (in that order) the three most important Puerto Rican pioneers of radio broadcasting.

Early years

Villavicencio Marxuach was born in the town of Santurce to Rafael Villavicencio Plumey and Teresa Marxuach Plumey de Villavicencio; his maternal uncle was Lieutenant Colonel Teófilo Marxuach.

Radio broadcasting career

Previous to working as a radio host he worked as a print journalist. He was the official on air voice of the informational and entertainment programs sponsored by the West Indies Advertising Company, his programs served as the permanent radio home of popular local orchestras such as those headed by the Brothers Morales, Mario Dumont, Rafael Petitón Guzmán, and Carmelo Díaz Soler. He was also host on various occasions to native artists such as Arturo Somohano, Emilio Bouret, Daniel Capa, Arturo Cortés, Lolita Cuevas, Alfonso López Prado, Ernestico Mantilla, Armando Ríos Araujo, Rafael Seijo, Lolita Traviso and Germán Vázquez, as well as to international stars (including

Pedro Vargas Pedro Vargas Mata (29 April 1906 – 30 October 1989) was a Mexican tenor and actor, from the golden age of Mexican cinema, participating in more than 70 films. He was known as the "Nightingale of the Americas", "Song Samurai" or "Continental ...

, Hugo del Carril, the Argentine Paulina Singerman, and

Carlos Gardel Carlos Gardel (born Charles Romuald Gardès; 11 December 1890 – 24 June 1935) was a French-born Argentine singer, songwriter, composer and actor, and the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was one of the most influential inter ...

). Villavicencio Marxuach followed the West Indies Advertising Company to their own newly inaugurated radio station in 1942, where he hosted the news program Diario de La Democracia and El Batey, which was both a news and musical

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

, and that he continued to host until 1960. After leaving radio he worked as spokesman for the Puerto Rican Department of Commerce, as a frequent articles contributor for the newspaper El Mundo, and finally as a

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

for

El Vocero ''El Vocero de Puerto Rico'' is a Puerto Rican free newspaper that is published in San Juan. Published since 1974, ''El Vocero'' was at first the third of the four largest Puerto Rico newspapers, trailing '' El Mundo'' and '' El Nuevo Día'' and ...

. Villavicencio Marxuach was a member of the

Puerto Rican Independence Party The Puerto Rican Independence Party (, PIP) is a social-democratic political party in Puerto Rico that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from the United States. Those who follow the PIP ideology are usually called ''independentist ...

and a follower of independence advocates

Pedro Albizu Campos Pedro Albizu Campos (June 29, 1893Luis Fortuño Janeiro. ''Album Histórico de Ponce (1692–1963).'' p. 290. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta Fortuño. 1963. – April 21, 1965) was a Puerto Rican attorney and politician, and a leading figure in ...

and

Luis Lloréns Torres Luis Lloréns Torres (May 14, 1876 – June 16, 1944), was a Puerto Rican poet, playwright, and politician. He was an advocate for the independence of Puerto Rico. Early years Llorens Torres was born in Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico. His paren ...

, an interest which resulted in the 1977 publication of ''Luis Lloréns Torres, maestro en lo sencillo.'' edro Albizu Campos y el nacionalismo puertorriqueño'

'

Later years

Teófilo Villavicencio Marxuach married Gloria Sabater in 1941 (Ms. Sabater worked for a time as personal secretary to

alcaldesa ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal counci ...

Felisa Rincón de Gautier Felisa Rincón de GautierThis name uses Spanish marriage naming customs; the first is the maiden family name '' "Rincón"'' and the second or matrimonial family name is ''"Gautier"''. (), also known as Doña Fela, (January 9, 1897 – Septembe ...

). The marriage produced two sons Ever and José Rafael. Villavicencio Marxuach died in

Río Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Flo ...

in 1992.

Notes

References

External links