Abelardo Díaz Alfaro

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Abelardo Díaz Alfaro
Born	1916 Caguas, Puerto Rico
Died	July 22, 1999
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Writing period	1940s
Notable work(s)	Campo Alegre
Spouse(s)	Gladys Meaux

Abelardo Díaz Alfaro (1916 - July 22, 1999) was a Puerto Rican author who reached great fame throughout Latin America during the 1940s. Some say his actual year of birth was 1919, but officially it was always announced as 1916. 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.

[edit] Life and career

Alfaro was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, but soon after, his family moved to Ponce. He returned to Caguas to attend University and married Gladys Meaux, with whom he had 2 daughters and one son.

Diaz Alfaro obtained a Bachelor's degree in Arts at the Instituto Politécnico de San German, which is now known as Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico. He also obtained a title as a social worker, as well as certificates in Spanish and Psychology.

He also obtained many honorary doctorates from different universities.^{[citation needed]}

Some of his short stories, like "Peyo Mercé ensena inglés" or "Santa Cló va a la Cuchilla" (in Terrazo) create a manichean 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 was able to do conferences in many points of Latin America after reaching fame, including Mexico (at the Ateneo Español), Venezuela and many other countries. His books have been translated to English, Polish, Russian, German, French, Italian and Czech, among other languages.

Among the books he wrote are: