The Puerto Rican Literature Project

Francisco Vassallo Cabrera was born in 1823 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and died in 1867 in his hometown. He attended Seminario Conciliar in Puerto Rico, then traveled to Spain where he obtained a medical degree at the Universidad de Barcelona in 1847. During his time in Spain, he studied alongside poets Manuel A. Alonso, Pablo Sáez, Juan B. Vidarte, and Santiago Vidarte, forming what would became known as the Grupo Criollo. After graduating, he practiced medicine in Madrid. He published in literary magazines such as Aguinaldo puertorriqueño, Album Puertorriqueño, Almanaque aguinaldo de la Isla de Puerto Rico, El cancionero de Borinquen, and Nuevo Cancionero de Borinquen.

Works Cited

Rosa-Nieves, Cesáreo. “El romance y el corrillo en Puerto Rico.” Revista del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, vol. 17, no. 65, 1974. p. 22. La Colección Puertorriqueña, Universidad de Puerto Rico, issuu.com/coleccionpuertorriquena/docs/primera_serie_n__mero_65/30. 

Rosa-Nieves, Cesáreo and Esther Melón de Díaz. Biografías puertorriqueñas: perfil histórico de un pueblo. Troutman Press, 1970, pp. 225-30.