The Puerto Rican Literature Project

José Ignacio Astor, son of Ignacio Astor and Rosa Ramos, was born in 1841 in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. He was a poet, composer, and trovador—specializing in décimas and guarachas—and made a living as a barber and carpenter. Some songs of his authorship include “La Negra Franchica,” “La Estrella Federal,” “La Linterna,” “El primer beso,” and “BRINDIS.” Astor “was a frontline militant of the country’s struggle” and part of a Parranda constituted by a group of laborers, under the name of “los Chelines,” which was accused of conspiracy against the Spanish government (Limón de Arce 27). Astor died in 1911. 

Works Cited

Limón de Arce, José. Trovadores populares de Arecibo. Archivo General de Puerto Rico, Instituto de Cultura, San Juan, pp. 25-33. Manuscrito, 1926.