Alejandro Tapia y Rivera (November 12, 1826 – July 19, 1882) was a poet and writer from San Juan, Puerto Rico. He is considered to be the father of Puerto Rican literature. It is said that no other person contributed more, directly or indirectly, to the cultural progress of Puerto Rico in literature than Tapia. He was also a fervent abolitionist and a women's rights advocate.

Tapia received his primary education in San Juan with the guidance of the renowned educator Rafael Cordero, who was an inspiration early in his life.

Tapia worked for the State Department when an unexpected event took place. A Spanish Army artillery officer challenged him to a duel, a challenge which he accepted. The consequences of this action was that Tapia was deported to Spain. He completed his studies in literature in Madrid (1850-1852), and joined the Society of the Recollection of Historical Documents, pertaining to Puerto Rico.

Tapia organized and filed in order those important 16th and 17th century documents. He published his first important work called The Historical Library of Puerto Rico regarding those documents and his findings. With this publication a new age of historiography in Puerto Rico was born.

Among Tapia's works were: The Palm of the Chief, The Pirate Cofresi, and Vasco Núñez de Balboa. He also wrote the biographies José Campeche and Ramón Power y Giralt. In 1854, he wrote the opera Guarionex. Tapia wrote his memoirs, which were to be posthumously published in 1927.

Tapia was a member of the Progressive Action Political Party. Among his cultural postions was his membership of the Puerto Rican Intellectual Protective Society. He was the director of the Youth Museum in Ponce. Tapia was also the founder and first president of the Ateneo Puertorriqueño.

Among Tapias many awards and honors were the Medal of the Royal Knight and the Distinguished Order of Carlos III from Spain.

Alejandro Tapia y Rivera died in the city of San Juan, Puerto in July 19, 1882 while giving a conference at the Ateneo Puertorriqueño.

His memory has been honored in Puerto Rico. There are many schools and avenues named after Tapia. The Teatro Tapia, the premier drama stage, in old San Juan is named after him.

Works

• El heliotropo (1848)
• The Palm of the Chief (1852)
• Guarionex (libretto, premiered in 1854)
• José Campeche: biography by Alejandro Tapia y Rivera (1854)
• Roberto D'Evreux (1856)
• Bernardo de Palyssy o El heroísmo del trabajo (1857)
• La antigua sirena (1862)
• La cuarterona (1867)
• Camoens (1868)
• Póstumo el transmigrado (1872)
• Vasco Núñez de Balboa: biography by Alejandro Tapia y Rivera (1872)
• Ramón Power: biography by Alejandro Tapia y Rivera (1873)
• La leyenda de los veinte años (1874)
• La Sataniada (1874)
• The Pirate Cofresi (1876)
• Misceláneas de Alejandro Tapia y Rivera (1880)
• Póstumo el envirginado (1882)
• Mis memorias por Alejandro Tapia y Rivera

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans