Ricardo AlegrÃa
Ricardo E. Alegría ( born April 14, 1921 in San Juan, Puerto Rico; † July 7, 2011 ) was a Puerto Rican archaeologist, anthropologist and writer who became famous for his work in protecting the culture of Puerto Rico.
Life
Alegría was the son of a lawyer and politician José S. Alegria, which was 1927-1928 including President of the Partido Nacionalista. He studied post-school Anthropology, Archaeology and Museology at the University of Chicago and took during his studies not only participated in excavations, but lived at times even with different tribes of North American Indians. In addition, he completed lectures on African-American studies and worked occasionally at the Smithsonian Institution and the Brooklyn Museum. With financial support from a Guggenheim Fellowship, he earned a doctorate from Harvard University with a dissertation on the dissemination of the check game pelota.
Upon his return to Puerto Rico, he led there by excavations in 1948 and discovered remains of the prehistoric colonization of Puerto Rico.
In 1955 he founded the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture (Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña ) and was until 1973 the Administrative Director.
For his long-standing commitment to protect the Puerto Rican culture, he was awarded the Charles Frankel Prize from the National Endowment for the Humanities by President Bill Clinton in 1993. He also received the Louse du Pont Crowninshield Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Publications
- Cacicazgo entre los de las Indias aborigènes Occidentales (1947 )
- La población aborigen Antillana y su relación con otras áreas de América (1948 )
- Historia de nuestros indios (1950 )
- La Fiesta de Santiago Apostol de Loíza Aldea (1954 )
- Cuentos folclóricos de Puerto Rico ( 1967)
- Descubrimiento, conquista y Colonización de Puerto Rico, 1493-1599 (1969 )