The Puerto Rican Literature Project

José Santos Alegría was a journalist, poet, playwright, politician, and literary critic born on July 17, 1887 in Dorado, Puerto Rico. During his adolescence, he took painting classes with Francisco Oller. 

He studied Law at the Universidad de Valparaíso in Indiana, United States. Upon his return to the island, he worked as Municipal Judge in Salinas, Santa Isabel, and Manatí, which introduced him to the political sphere. He was a founding member of the Puerto Rico Nationalist Party and would become an ally of the Puerto Rican Liberal Party alongside Antonio R. Barceló. In 1918, he co-published with Evaristo Ribera Chevremont Antología de poetas jóvenes de Puerto Rico, which featured a prologue by José de Diego.

In 1924, he founded the monthly magazine Vida Moderna. During the 1930s, he formed part of the Board of the Ateneo Puertorriqueño. In 1934, he became a member of the Academia Puertorriqueña de la Historia, and in 1943, he presided over the Sociedad Puertorriqueña de Periodistas for two years.

Some of his poems were published in the magazine, Puerto Rico Ilustrado, which he directed from 1938 to 1949. Santos Alegría published under the pseudonym of Raimundo Lucio. He collaborated with magazines and newspapers such as El Carnaval, Diario de Puerto Rico, Artes y Letras, Comercio y Producción, Prensa, Alma Latina, Revista del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, Prensa Literaria, El Mundo, and El Imparcial. In 1955, he was president of the Instituto Puertorriqueño de Cultura Hispánica. 

His published works include: Crónicas frívolas (1938), Retablos de la aldea (1949), El alma de la aldea (1956), Cartas a Florinda (1958), and Rosas y flechas (1958).  

Santos Alegría died on July 29, 1965.

Works Cited

“Alegría, José.” Lexjuris, https://www.lexjuris.com/biografias/buscar/search.asp?rec_id=190.

De Angelis, Maria Luisa. Poetas Puertorriqueños. San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1920 (?).
“José Alegría.” ENCICLOPEDIAPR. https://enciclopediapr.org/content/jose-alegria/.