Alejandro Tapia y Rivera
(November 12, 1826 – July 19, 1882)
The father of Puerto Rican Literature, Abolishionist, Women’s Rights advocate
He was a Puerto Rican poet, dramaturg, essayist and writer. Tapia is considered to be the father of Puerto Rican literature and as the person who has contributed the most to the cultural advancement of Puerto Rico’s literature. In addition to his writing, he was also a abolitionist and a women’s rights advocate.
Alejandro was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. There he received his primary education under the guidance of the educator Rafael Cordero while studying his primary years in a school in Luna Street (Calle Luna) in Old San Juan, who was an early inspiration in his life. There he met his lifelong friend Jose Julian Acosta.
Tapia worked for the State Department. A Spanish Army artillery officer challenged him to a duel when Tapia refused to yield the sidewalk to him, a challenge which he accepted; as a result, Tapia suffered a non-lethal injury in the arm and subsequently exiled to Spain, where he remained with his father for a period of time.
While in Spain he completed his studies in literature in Madrid (1850–1852) and joined the Society of the Recollection of Historical Documents Relating to Puerto Rico (Sociedad Recolectora de Documentos Históricos de San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico). Tapia filed and organized important 16th and 17th century documents of Puerto Rico. He published his first important work called The Historical Library of Puerto Rico (Biblioteca Histórica de Puerto Rico) relating to those documents and his findings on them.
In 1852, the Spanish-appointed governor of Puerto Rico, Fernando de Norzagaray, pardoned Tapia and returned to Puerto Rico, establishing his residence in the city of Ponce on the southern coast of the island. He was a member of the Progressive Action Political Party. Among his cultural positions was his membership in the Puerto Rican Intellectual Protective Society. He was also the director of the Youth Museum in Ponce and the founder and first president of the Ateneo Puertorriqueño.
He moved from Ponce to San Juan around 1874, after founding Puerto Rico’s first Gabinete de Lectura in 1870. The Gabinete de Lectura was the precursor of the Ponce Municipal Library.
Alejandro Tapia y Rivera died in the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 19, 1882, while giving a conference at the Ateneo Puertorriqueño.