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. 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. 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 Merce ensena ingles" or "Santa Clo va a la cuchilla" (in Terrazo) create a manichean dichotomy between unlearned Puertorrican peasants and American invasors (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 Puertorricans 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:
- Terrazo (published in 1947)
- Mi Isla Sonada
- Los Perros
- The Eye Of The Heart
- United States In Literature
- Classic Tales Of Spanish America
- Cuentos del Mundo Hispano (Spanish version of Classic Tales)
- Changes Antologia Mundial
- The Green Antilles
- Contemporary Readers
- National Catholic
- The Princeton Tiger
- Europe in France
- Campo Alegre.
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.