Ricardo Alegría

Ricardo E. Alegría (born April 14, 1921 in San Juan , Puerto Rico ; † July 7, 2011 ibid) was a Puerto Rican archaeologist , anthropologist and writer who became known for his commitment to protecting the culture of Puerto Rico.

Life

Alegría was the son of the lawyer and politician José S. Alegria, who was president of the Partido Nacionalista between 1927 and 1928. After attending school, he himself studied anthropology, archeology and museology at the University of Chicago and not only took part in excavations during his studies , but also lived for a time with various tribes of the Indians of North America . He also lectured in African American studies and worked intermittently at the Smithsonian Institution and the Brooklyn Museum . With financial support from a Guggenheim scholarship , he earned a doctorate from Harvard University with a dissertation on the spread of the pelota setback game .

After his return to Puerto Rico, he carried out excavations there and discovered remains of the early settlement of Puerto Rico in 1948 .

In 1955 he founded the Puerto Rican Cultural Institute ( Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña ) and was its administrative director until 1973.

For his many years of work to protect Puerto Rican culture, he was awarded the Charles Frankel Prize of the National Endowment for the Humanities by US President Bill Clinton in 1993 . He also received the Louse du Pont Crowninshield Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation .

Cacicazgo entre los aborígenes de las Indias Occidentales (1947)
La población aborigen antillana y su relación con otras áreas de América (1948)
Historia de nuestros indios (1950)
La Fiesta de Santiago Apóstol en Loíza Aldea (1954)
Cuentos folclóricos de Puerto Rico (1967)
Descubrimiento, conquista y colonización de Puerto Rico, 1493-1599 (1969)

personal data
SURNAME	Alegría, Ricardo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Alegría, Ricardo E.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Puerto Rican writer, archaeologist and anthropologist
DATE OF BIRTH	April 14, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH	San Juan , Puerto Rico
DATE OF DEATH	July 7, 2011
Place of death	San Juan , Puerto Rico