Ricardo Enrique Alegría Gallardo He was born in Old San Juan in 1921. He studied in the public schools of San Juan, and continued his university studies at the University of Puerto Rico, the University of Chicago, and Harvard University, from which he received his doctorate in 1954.

His outstanding work promoting the culture, traditions, and architectural preservation of Puerto Rico, and of Old San Juan in particular, makes him a champion of our idiosyncrasies.

Don Ricardo has distinguished himself as the founder and first director of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, professor at the University of Puerto Rico, founder and director of the Center for Archaeological and Ethnological Research of the University of Puerto Rico, director and reorganizer of the Museum of the University of Puerto Rico, founder and director of the Center for Advanced Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, as well as the Museum of the Americas, among many other positions held.

We also know Don Ricardo for his defense of pre-Hispanic archaeological discoveries, for the conservation and restoration of monuments and historic sites in Puerto Rico, as well as for his staunch defense of popular arts programs, music, theater, Indigenous and African heritage, and, above all, our nationality.

He has been the author and editor of numerous publications, and has rightfully received honors and distinctions not only in Puerto Rico but throughout the Americas. Among these, the Picasso Medal, of the UNESCO;  James Smithson Medal, of the Smithsonian Institution; Charles Frankel Award, to the humanist of the year, for the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Pablo Neruda Medal, awarded for “his significant contribution to Puerto Rican and universal culture.”