Ricardo E. Alegria
(1921- July 7, 2011 )
Cultural anthropologist and archeologist
“Father of modern Puerto Rican archaeology“.
Dr. Alegria was born on April 14, 1921. The reason he is known as the Father of modern Puerto Rican Archaeology is because in 1955 helped found and later served as executive director of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, where he was long a passionate advocate of preserving the island’s artistic and archaeological heritage. He went on to launch the Graduate Center for Advanced Studies on Puerto Rico and the Caribbean in 1976 and received the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Picasso Medal in 1993. . In 1993 he was the first Latin-American
to win the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s Picasso Medal,
the same year that President Clinton awarded him the Charles Frankel Award of the Humanities.
Alegría was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico where he received his primary and secondary education. His father, José S. Alegría, was a former vice president and founding member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. It was Alegría’s father who instilled in him a sense of love and pride for Puerto Rico, its history, and culture.[b] In 1941 at the University of Puerto Rico, together with Yamil Galib, Alegría founded a new fraternity, Alpha Beta Chi.[c] In 1942, Alegría earned his Bachelor of Science degree in archeology from the University of Puerto Rico. He continued his academic education in the University of Chicago where in 1947 he earned his master’s in Anthropology and History. In 1954, Alegría earned his Ph.D. (doctorate) in Anthropology from Harvard University.
According to the San Diego Tribune Dr. Alegria died at the Cardiovascular Center of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean from complications of heart disease, said his son, Ricardo Alegria Pons.
The following is a list of books that Alegría has either authored or co-authored.
- “Ball Courts and Ceremonial Plazas in the West Indies” (1983)[
- “The three wishes; a collection of Puerto Rican folktales”(1969) ( with Lorenzo Homar)
- “History of the Indians of Puerto Rico” (1983)
- “El Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, 1955–1973 : 18 años contribuyendo a fortalecer nuestra conciencia nacional” (1978)
- “Taino: Pre-Columbian Art & Culture from the Caribbean” (with Fatima Bercht and Jose J. Arrom) (1998)
- “Las primeras representaciones gráficas del indio americano, 1493–1523” (1978)
- “Descubrimiento, conquista y colonización de Puerto Rico, 1493–1599” (with Mela Pons Alegría) (1984)
- “Historia y Cultura de Puerto Rico: Desde La Epoca Pre-Colombina Hasta Nuestros Dias”
- “Excavations at Maria de La Cruz Cave & Hacienda Grande Village Site, Loiza, Puerto Rico” (with Irving Rouse) (1999)
- “La vida de Jesucristo según el santero puertorriqueño Florencio Cabán” (1983)
- “San Juan de Puerto Rico” (with Manuel Méndez Guerrero and María de los Angeles Castro Arroyo) (1989)
- “Cafe” (1967)
- “Programa De Parques Y Museos Del Instituto De Cultura Puertorriquena” (1973)
- “La Fiesta De Santiago Apostol En Loiza Aldea” (1954)
- “El Fuerte De San Jerónimo Del Boquerón” (1969)
- “El Ahijado De La Muerte”
Honors
Puerto Rican folk duo Los Niños Estelares dedicated a tribute song to Alegría, named “Alegría, Doctor Alegría”, in their 2010 album, Namasté. In it they describe many of Alegría’s accomplishments, his educational background, and -partly in jest, due to Alegría’s impressive credentials- likened him to Indiana Jones. In the lyrics, they name Alegría “the last Puerto Rican hero.”
In 1993, President Bill Clinton presented Alegría with the “Charles Frankel Prize” for his contributions in the field of archaeology. In 1996, he was awarded the “James Smithson Bicentennial Medal”. In 2001, Alegría received from the hands of Nancy Morejon “The Haydee Santamaria Medal” in Havana, Cuba. In 2002, Alegría received the “Luis Muñoz Marín Medal” in recognition of his life achievements in Puerto Rican Governor Sila Calderón. Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar honored Alegría by making an artistic graphic poster of him.
Alegría also received recognition from cultural and architectural organizations in Peru, Venezuela, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, where he also received an honorary doctorate. The city of Havana recognized his influence in the project to remodel the city’s historical district (similar to Alegría’s work in Old San Juan) by honoring him with a plaque, which, while he was alive, was the only monument honoring a living Puerto Rican in the entire city