Ricardo Alegría

Ricardo Enrique Alegría Gallardo (April 14, 1921 – July 7, 2011) was a Puerto Rican scholar, author, cultural anthropologist, and archaeologist known as the "father of modern Puerto Rican archaeology".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0" /> He was a professor at the University of Puerto Rico and the first director of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. Alegria was the founder of the Museo de las Américas and of the Alpha Beta Chi fraternity.

Early life

Alegría was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on April 14, 1921. 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.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref>

He received his primary and secondary education in San Juan, before attending the University of Puerto Rico. While there Alegría and Yamil Galib founded a new fraternity, Alpha Beta Chi.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> In 1942, Alegría earned his Bachelor of Science degree in archeology from the University of Puerto Rico.<ref name=":0" /> He continued his academic education at 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.<ref name="smithsonian-bio-2004">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":2" />

Career

Governor Luis Muñoz Marín named Alegría the first director of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture in the late 1950s.<ref name=":0" /> Alegría established the Center of Popular Arts, the Institute of Puerto Rican book publishing division.<ref name=":0" /> Alegría was responsible for the renovation and restoration of historical Old San Juan under the leadership of the San Juan mayor Felisa Rincón de Gautier.<ref name=":0" /> He also spearheaded the restoration of the ruins of the Caparra Archaeological Site and Fortín de San Gerónimo.<ref name=":0" /> As a result of his work Old San Juan was declared a Historical World Treasure.

In 1976, Alegría opened the Center of Advanced Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref> In 1992, he established the Museo de las Américas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":3" /> He also formed the General Archive of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican Theater Festival.<ref name=":3" /> Alegría was also a professor at the University of Puerto Rico, where he created the Archaeological Research Center.<ref name=":0" />

Alegría was a pioneer in the anthropologic studies of the Taíno culture and the African heritage in Puerto Rico.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Caribbean Business points out that, "His extensive studies have helped historians understand how the Taínos lived and suffered, before and after the Spanish conquistadors arrived on the island."<ref name=":0" /> Alegría estimated that about one-third of all Puerto Ricans have Taíno ancestry—results of recent DNA studies have suggested he may be right.<ref name=":0" />

Awards and recognition

File:Ricardo Alegria Plaque Havana Cuba.jpg

Plaque in Havana, Cuba honoring Alegría

In 1993, President Bill Clinton presented Alegría with the Charles Frankel Prize of the National Endowment for the Humanities for contributions to the field of archaeology.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Alegría received the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal in 1996.<ref name=":0" /> Alegría received The Haydee Santamaria Medal in 2001.<ref name=":0" /> In 2002, the Puerto Rican Governor Sila Calderónpresented the Luis Muñoz Marín Medal to Alegríain recognition of his life achievements.<ref name=":0" />

File:Ricardo E. Alegría Gallardo.jpg

"Dr. Ricardo E. Alegría Gallardo -Retablo" by Edwin Báez Carrasquillo in the Museo de las Américas

Alegría received recognition and honorary degrees from cultural and architectural organizations in Peru, Venezuela, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> 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, placed in front of the basilica de San Francisco de Asis in Old Havana, Cuba.<ref name=":1" />

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 2011, the Museo de las Américas host a special exhibit, "Richard Alegría: An Intimate Look", featuring photographs by Chendo Pérez.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2021, the museum and filmmaker Amalia García Padilla released the documentary 500 and 100: Ricardo Alegría on the Isleta de San Juan, commemorating the 500th anniversary of San Juan with narration by Alegría.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar honored Alegría in an artistic graphic poster.<ref name=":1" /> Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa was inspired by Alegría and included a fictional character based on him, named Ricardo Santurce, in the play El loco de los balcones.<ref name=":0" />

Personal life

Alegría lived in Old San Juan in his later years, until his death on July 7, 2011.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He had been hospitalized in San Juan's Centro Medico (Medical Center Hospital) a few weeks before his death. After a brief recovery, he relapsed and was returned to the medical center, where he died of heart failure.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Flags of Puerto Rico government offices were flown at half staff for five days of mourning.<ref name=":0" /> He was buried at Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in San Juan, Puerto Rico.<ref name="primera-hora-2011-fallece-alegria">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0" />

Publications

Books

• La Fiesta de Santiago Apostol en Loiza Aldea [The Feast of St. James the Apostle]. San Juan: Coleccion de Estudios Puertoriquena, 1954.
• The Archaic Tradition in Puerto Rico. with Henry Bigger Nicholson and Gordon R. Willey. Salt Lake City: Society for American Archaeology, 1955
• Los renegados: narración inspirada en un cuento popular puertorriqueño [The Renegades: narration inspired by a Puerto Rican tale]. San Juan: Instituto de Cultura Puertoriquena, 1962.
• Cafe. San Juan: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, 1967.
• The Three Wishes; a collection of Puerto Rican folktales. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1969. Template:ISBN
• El Fuerte de San Jeronimo del Boqueron [The Fort of San Jeronimo de Boqueron]. San Juan: Instituto de Cultura Puertoriquena, 1969.
• Descubrimiento, conquista y colonización de Puerto Rico, 1493–1599. [Discovery, Conquest, and Colonizaton of Puerto Ric, 1493-1599]. with Mela Pons Alegría). San Juan: Coleccion De Estudios Puertorriquenos, 1969.
• El programa de parques y museos del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. [The parks and museums program of the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture ] Barcelona: M. Pareja, 1973.
• Apuntes en torno a la mitología de los indios taínos de las Antillas Mayores y sus orígenes suramericanos [Notes on the Mythology of the Taino Indians of the Greater Antilles and their South American Origins]. San Juan: Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe, 1978. Template:ISBN
• El Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, 1955–1973: 18 años contribuyendo a fortalecer nuestra conciencia nacional. [The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, 1955-1973: 18 Years Contributing to Strengthening Our National Consciouness]. Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, 1979. Template:ISBN
• Las primeras representaciones gráficas del indio americano, 1493–1523. [The First Graphic Representation of the American Indian]. Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe, 1978
• El uso de la incrustación en la escultura de los indios antillanos. [The use of inlay in the sculpture of the Antillean Indians]. San Juan: Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe Fundación García Arévalo, 1981.
• History of the Indians of Puerto Rico. Coleccion De Estudios Puertorriquenos, 1983. Template:ISBN
• La vida de Jesucristo según el santero puertorriqueño Florencio Cabán [The life of Jesus Christ according to the Puerto Rican Santero Florencio Cabán]. Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe, 1983. Template:ISBN
• San Juan de Puerto Rico. with Manuel Méndez Guerrero and María de los Angeles Castro Arroyo. Quinto Centenario: Instituto de Cooperación Iberoamericana, 1989.
• Cuentos Folkloricos de Puerto Rico [Folkloric Tales of Puerto Rico]. Editora Corripio, 1990. Template:ISBN
• Juan Garrido, El Conquistador Negro En Las Antillas, Florida, Mexico y California c. 1503-1540. Centro De Estudios Avanzados De Puerto Rico y El Caribe, 1990.
• Taíno: Pre-Colombian art and culture from the Caribbean. with Fatima Bercht and Estrellita Brodsky. New York: Monacelli Press, 1998. Template:ISBN
• Las artes populares en las Américas. San Juan: Museo de las Americas, 1999.
• La semilla que sembramos: autobiografía del proyecto nacional. with Pedro Angel Reina Pérez. San Juan: Editorial Cultural, 2003.
• Cuentos Folclóricos de las Antillas Mayores Cuba - Jamaica - Haití - República Dominicana - Puerto Rico e Islas Vírgenes. [Folk tales from the Greater Antilles Cuba - Jamaica - Haiti - Dominican Republic - Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands] Collection of Puerto Rican Studies, 2008. Template:ISBN
• Excavations at Maria de La Cruz Cave & Hacienda Grande Village Site, Loiza, Puerto Rico. with Irving Rouse. Yale University Publications in Anthropology, July 2010. Template:ISBN

Journal articles

• "Origin and diffusion of the term "Cacique"". Proceedings of the 29th International Congress of Americanists, Acculturation in the Americas vol 2, 1952.
• "La Fiesta De Santiago Apostol En Loiza Aldea" ["The Feast of St. James the Apostle"]. Revista de Ciencias Sociales. pp. 29–44.
• "Ball Courts and Ceremonial Plazas in the West Indies" Yale University Publications in Anthropology, vol. 7., 1983.

Documentary

• “Las Fiestas de Santiago Apóstol en Loíza Aldea (1949)

See also

• List of Puerto Ricans
• Puerto Rican scientists and inventors