100 Hispanics You Should Know
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
100 Hispanics You Should Know Iván A. Castro LIBRARIES UNLIMITED 100 HISPANICS YOU SHOULD KNOW 100 HISPANICS YOU SHOULD KNOW Ivn A. Castro Westport, Connecticut • London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Castro, Iva´n. 100 Hispanics you should know / by Iva´n Castro. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Audience: Grades 6-12. ISBN 1-59158-327-6 (alk. paper) 1. Spain—Biography—Dictionaries—Juvenile literature. 2. Latin America—Biography— Dictionaries—Juvenile literature. 3. Spaniards—Biography—Dictionaries—Juvenile literature. 4. Latin Americans—Biography—Dictionaries—Juvenile literature. 5. Hispanic Americans— Biography—Dictionaries—Juvenile literature. I. Title. II. Title: One hundred Hispanics you should know. CT1347.C37 2007 920.009268—dc22 2006030668 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright ' 2007 by Iva´n A. Castro All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2006030668 ISBN 10: 1-59158-327-6 First published in 2007 Libraries Unlimited, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 A Member of the Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.lu.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10987654321 To my wife, Isora, for her help. To my children Bryan, Patrick, and Ashley, for their support. Contents Introduction .................................. xi Ciro Alegrı´a.................................. 3 Luis Alvarez ................................. 6 Oscar Arias Sa´nchez .............................10 Desi Arnaz ..................................13 Elfego Baca ..................................16 Pı´o Baroja...................................19 Gustavo Adolfo Becquer ...........................22 Baruj Benacerraf ...............................25 Jacinto Benavente ..............................28 Santos Benavides ...............................31 Simo´n Bolı´var.................................34 Alvar Nu´n˜ez Cabeza de Vaca ........................37 Jose Capablanca ...............................40 Jose Carreras .................................43 Pablo Casals .................................46 Fray Bartolome de las Casas .........................49 Richard E. Cavazos..............................52 Miguel de Cervantes .............................55 Franklin Chang-Dı´az.............................58 Cesar Cha´vez.................................61 Dennis Cha´vez................................64 Herna´n Cortes................................67 Juan Cortina .................................70 Salvador Dalı´.................................73 Ruben Darı´o.................................76 vii viii / Contents Rodrigo Dı´az de Vivar (El Cid Campeador).................79 Pla´cido Domingo ...............................82 Juan Pablo Duarte ..............................85 Toma´s Estrada Palma ............................88 David Glasgow Farragut ...........................91 Ferdinand of Arago´n.............................94 Jose Ferrer ..................................97 Carlos J. Finlay ................................99 Juan Jose Flores .............................. 102 Bernardo de Ga´lvez............................. 105 Federico Garcı´a Lorca ........................... 108 Julius Peter Garesche............................ 111 Roberto Goizueta ............................. 114 Francisco de Goya ............................. 117 Rita Hayworth ............................... 120 Rafael Herna´ndez ............................. 123 Miguel Hidalgo ............................... 126 Eugenio Marı´a de Hostos ......................... 129 Ignatius of Loyola ............................. 132 Isabella of Castile .............................. 135 Juan Ramo´n Jimenez ............................ 138 Benito Jua´rez................................ 141 Frida Kahlo................................. 144 Agustı´n Lara ................................ 147 Octaviano Larrazolo ............................ 150 Ernesto Lecuona .............................. 153 Luı´s Federico Leloir ............................ 156 Antonio Machado ............................. 159 Jose Martı´.................................. 162 Jose Martı´nez Ruı´z (Azorı´n)........................ 165 Contents / ix Cesar Milstein................................ 168 Francisco de Miranda ........................... 171 Gabriela Mistral .............................. 174 Bartolome Mitre .............................. 177 Mario J. Molina .............................. 180 Ricardo Montalba´n ............................ 183 Mario Moreno (Cantinflas) ........................ 185 Rita Moreno ................................ 188 Luı´s Mun˜oz Marı´n............................. 190 Luı´s Mun˜oz Rivera ............................. 193 Pablo Neruda ................................ 196 Carlos I. Noriega .............................. 199 Antonia Novello .............................. 202 Vasco Nu´n˜ez de Balboa .......................... 205 Ellen Ochoa ................................. 208 Bernardo O’Higgins ............................ 210 Jose Ortega y Gasset ............................ 213 Romualdo Pacheco ............................. 216 Octavio Paz ................................. 219 Benito Perez Galdo´s............................ 222 Pablo Picasso ................................ 225 Francisco Pizarro .............................. 228 Anthony Quinn ............................... 231 Jose A. Quintero .............................. 234 Santiago Ramo´n y Cajal .......................... 237 Diego Rivera ................................ 240 Gilbert Roland ............................... 243 Cesar Romero ............................... 245 Carlos Saavedra Lamas .......................... 248 Jose de San Martı´n............................. 251 x / Contents Francisco de Paula Santander ....................... 254 Domingo Faustino Sarmiento ....................... 257 Andres Segovia ............................... 260 Junı´pero Serra ............................... 263 Hernando de Soto ............................. 266 John Philip Sousa.............................. 269 Antonio Jose de Sucre ........................... 272 Arnaldo Tamayo .............................. 275 Teresa of A´vila ............................... 277 Miguel de Unamuno ............................ 280 Felix Varela ................................. 283 Felix Lope de Vega ............................. 286 Diego Vela´zquez .............................. 288 Pancho Villa ................................ 290 Emiliano Zapata .............................. 293 Index .................................... 297 Introduction I have always wanted to write books, but not this one. The idea for this volume came to me in October 2003. I had gone to pick up my daughter Ashley at her middle school when I noticed a board hanging in one of the school’s halls displaying biographies written by students. October is Hispanic Heritage Month at Miami-Dade County and the subjects of these biographies were famous Hispanics. To my surprise and chagrin, every single one of the individuals portrayed was either a popular singer or a sports figure. ‘‘We are more than this,’’ I said to myself. I thought right away of Jose Martı´, Cuba’s beloved founding father and poet; Mexico’s states- man Benito Jua´rez; Chile’s great poets Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda; Herna´n Cortes, Francisco Pizarro, and other Spanish conquis- tadors; Spain and Mexico’s celebrated tenor Pla´cido Domingo; Costa Rica’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias Sa´nchez; Simo´n Bolivar, Venezuela-born liberator of vast areas of South America; Argentina’s statesman and educator Bartolome Mitre; or even New Mexico’s renowned gunfighter Elfego Baca. Why didn’t these students know about Hispanics who, in the larger view of life, were more important than the popular singers and sports heroes? There are several reasons. First, to me there seems to be an in- herent bias against Hispanics in the American educational system. Or perhaps it is just a form of ignorance. In very few, if any, books does one find the names of Hispanics who have made great contributions to the sciences, the arts, or many other fields of human endeavor. Second, and in this case I hold Hispanics responsible as much as anybody, there is no real interest among Spanish-speaking historians in keeping the necessary records of Hispanic achievement. Of course, there is some in- formation to be had, but it is usually piecemeal and incomplete. In addition, even in many Spanish-language publications and Web sites, there is more information on English- or German-speaking individuals than Spanish-speaking ones. In more than one Spanish-language Web site that I have visited, I have found more information on William Shakespeare than on Miguel de Cervantes. The lack of books in English about these people is also appalling. Third, there is an economic factor. It is easier and probably more profitable to write about popular figures. Their biographies are readily available in magazines and on Web sites, and most people tend to be xi xii / Introduction more interested in celebrities than in scientists, composers, statesmen, poets, writers, painters, or revolutionaries. In any case, I decided a book on these forgotten or overlooked His- panics was needed, and if no one else would do it,