Abelardo Díaz Alfaro: Difference between revisions

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'''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.

Alfaro was born in [[Caguas, Puerto Rico]], but soon after, his family moved to [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]]. He returned to Caguas to attend University and got married to [[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 language|Spanish]] and [[psychologyPsychology]].

He also obtained many honorary doctorates from different universities.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

Some of his short stories, like "Peyo MerceMercé ensena inglesinglés" or "Santa CloCló va a la cuchillaCuchilla" (in [[Terrazo]]) create a manichean dichotomy between unlearned PuertorricanPuerto Rican peasants and American invasorsinvaders (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 PuertorricansPuerto 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 language|English]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[German language|German]], [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]] and [[Czech language|Czech]], among other languages.