The Puerto Rican Literature Project

José Luis Muñoz Rivera was born in 1859, in Barranquitas, Puerto Rico and died in 1916. He was a journalist, poet, politician, and speaker. He had a strong understanding of Latin and French, and all his education was self-taught. He published his first poems, “Adelante” and “Quejas de amor,” in Ponce’s newspaper El Pueblo. While there, he founded the newspaper La Democracia in 1890. He collaborated with the newspapers El Clamor del País and El Buscapié. In the latter, he published his epic essay “Vasco Núñez de Balboa.” His poetry deals with both patriotic and erotic themes. As a politician, he reached a political pact with Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, of the Partido Liberal Español, and later became the Secretary of Grace and Justice of the Interior. After the change of government, Muñoz Rivera founded the newspapers El Liberal and El Diario de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico and The Puerto Rico Herald in New York, New York. He would go on to found the Puerto Rico Partido Unión, hold a seat in the House of Delegates, and later be elected Resident Commissioner in Washington, DC.

Works Cited

González Ginorio, José. Luis Muñoz Rivera: A la luz de sus obras y su vida. D.C. Heath y Compañía, Boston, 1919. Wikimedia, upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Luis_Munoz_Rivera%2Ca_la_luz_de_sus_obras_y_de_su_vida%3B_estudio_biografico-critico-educativo%2C_%28IA_luismunozriveraa00gonz%29.pdf.

“José Muñoz Rivera.” Proyecto Salón Hogar, Fundación Héctor A. García, 2005, www.proyectosalonhogar.com/biografiaspr/luis_munoz_rivera.htm.