Dr. Margot Arce de Vázquez (March 10, 1904 – November 14, 1990) was a writer, essayist and educator who founded the Puerto Rican Academy of the

Spanish Language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in the ...

Early years

Arce de Vázquez was born and raised in

Caguas, Puerto Rico Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was found ...

, where she received her primary and secondary education. In 1922, she graduated from that city's Central High School and following her graduation enrolled in the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and ...

in Río Piedras, San Juan.Por: Antonio Gil de La Madrid "Margot Arce de Vázquez, ensayista"
Puerto Rico Encyclopedia
/ref>Margot Arce de Vázquez "Memorial de Margot Arce de Vázquez"
As a university student she sympathized with the

Puerto Rican Nationalist Party The Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico ( es, Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico, PNPR) is a Puerto Rican political party founded on September 17, 1922, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its primary goal is to work for Puerto Rico's independence. The P ...

and became involved in the independence movement of the island. She was also the editor of the university's newspaper where she often expressed her views. After she

majored An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conce ...

and earned her bachelor's degree in mathematics and Spanish she went to Spain and enrolled in the

Central University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

. Among her educators were the essayist

Américo Castro Américo Castro y Quesada (May 4, 1885 – July 25, 1972) was a Spanish cultural historian, philologist, and literary critic who challenged some of the prevailing notions of Spanish identity, raising controversy with his conclusions that Spaniards ...

and the poet

Dámaso Alonso Dámaso Alonso y Fernández de las Redondas (22 October 1898 – 25 January 1990) was a Spanish poet, philologist and literary critic. Though a member of the Generation of '27, his best-known work dates from the 1940s onwards. Early life and ed ...

. Their teachings influenced Arce de Vázquez for the rest of her life. In 1930, she earned her

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in philosophy and letters. Her thesis was about Garcilaso de la Vega, a work which she would publish later in her life.

Educator

When Arce de Vázquez returned to Puerto Rico, she was hired by her alma mater. She founded the Department of

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

Studies and was its director from 1943 to 1965. Among the distinguished Puerto Ricans she influenced were Luis de Arrigoitia, Mariano Feliciano, José Ferrer Canales and Rosario Ferré. In 1953, she helped organize and presided over the committee in charge of transferring the body of Puerto Rican poet

Julia de Burgos Julia de Burgos García (February 17, 1914 – July 6, 1953) was a Puerto Rican poet. As an advocate of Puerto Rican independence, she served as Secretary General of the Daughters of Freedom, the women's branch of the Puerto Rican National ...

from New York City to the island. In 1955, Arce de Vázquez founded the Puerto Rican Academy of the Spanish Language. During her spare time she wrote essays expressing her pro-independence views, which were published in many of the island's magazines and newspapers.

Author

Arce de Vázquez edited the works of Puerto Rican poet

Luis Palés Matos Luis Palés Matos (March 20, 1898 – February 23, 1959) was a Puerto Rican poet who is credited with creating the poetry genre known as Afro-Antillano. He is also credited with writing the screenplay for the "Romance Tropical", the first Puerto ...

. Two of her most important works were: ''Notas Puertorriqueñas'' (1950) (''Puerto Rican Notes'') and ''Gabriela Mistral, persona y poesía'' (1958) (''

Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator and humanist. In 1945 she became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Li ...

: The Poet and her Work''). These works were highly acclaimed and received awards from the Puerto Rican Institute of Literature.

Written works

* ''Literatura puertorriqueña'' * ''Obras Completas De Margot Arce De Vázquez'' * ''Gabriela Mistral: The Poet and Her Work'' * ''Lecturas Puertorriqueñas: Prosa'' (Puerto Rico: Realidad y Anhelo, Número 2), by Mariana Robles de Cardona, Margot Arce de Vázquez (Editor)

Final years

The Puerto Rican Academy of the Spanish Language bestowed upon Arce de Vázquez the title of "Profesora Emeritus" upon her retirement in 1970. Dr. Margot Arce de Vázquez died on November 14, 1990 in

Hato Rey, Puerto Rico Hato Rey is a former barrio located in the northwest part of the dissolved municipality of Río Piedras. It now stretches over three barrios, of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico: Urban landscape Its name means "king's cattle farm" (' ...

from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

. She was buried at the Puerto Rico Memorial Cemetery in

Carolina, Puerto Rico Carolina (; ) is a city and municipality located on the northeast coast of Puerto Rico. It lies immediately east of the capital San Juan and Trujillo Alto; north of Gurabo and Juncos; and west of Canóvanas and Loíza. Carolina is spread over ...

In memory

In 1996, the Río Piedras

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

dedicated the 50th anniversary issue of their magazine ''Asomante'' to the memory of Arce de Vázquez and to Nilita Vientos Gastón. Also in 1996, the Central University of Bayamón honored her memory by renaming their library after her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arce De Vazquez, Margot 1904 births 1990 deaths Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Neurological disease deaths in Puerto Rico People from Caguas, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican educators Puerto Rican non-fiction writers Latin Americanists Members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Puerto Rican activists Puerto Rican independence activists Puerto Rican nationalists