Alfonso Valdés Cobián (June 23, 1890 – February 14, 1988), was an industrialist, banker, sportsman and politician. Valdés Cobián was a cofounder of Cervecería India, Inc., currently Puerto Rico's largest beer brewery.

Early years

Valdés Cobián was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico to Ramon and Encarnación Cobián. When he was a child his family moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and lived in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. While living there he attended the

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, a preparatory school, and

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, where he received a degree in electrical engineering in 1911. The family returned to Puerto Rico and in 1910, his father, Ramón Valdés founded and organized the "Mayaguez Light, Power and Ice Company", a utility in the city of Mayagüez. The elder Valdés named Alfonso the company's vice president in 1915.Guía del Turismo en Mayagüez, Clásico de Mayagüez "La Cervecería India", (Spanish) The Government took over all power generation in the late 1930s and the company is now operated by "La Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica de Puerto Rico" (The Puerto Rico Electric Energy Authority).

Cervecería India

Admiral Leahy confers with Puerto Rican Officials

Mayagüez is known as "La Ciudad de las Aguas Puras" (The City of the Pure Waters) because of the quality of its waters. The nickname originated because of the quality of the waters from the Yagüez River. The word "Yagüez" is Taino for "Place of pure and clear waters" . Valdés Cobián's brother Sabino, took a sample of the waters of Mayagüez to the Wallestein Laboratory in New York which confirmed the quality of the waters for the elaboration of beer. Valdés Cobián and his brothers, Sabino and

Ramón Ramón or Ramon may refer to: People Given name *Ramón (footballer, born 1950), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1983), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1988), Brazilian footballer *Ramón (footballer, born 1990), Br ...

decided to build a brewery in Mayagüez and on November 2, 1937, they founded the

Compañía Cervecera de Puerto Rico The Compañía Cervecera de Puerto Rico (formerly known as Cervecería India) is a large brewery in Puerto Rico. It is located in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. The company's main brand is ''Medalla Light''. History The company ...

which was later renamed Cervecería India. The company competed with two other native beer breweries, "Real" and "Corona". Corona would later be launched in Mexico. Valdés Cobián, as chairman and president, successfully led his company converting it into Puerto Rico's largest beer brewery and manufacture of canned and bottled soft drinks. Besides his chairmanship of Cervecería India, Valdés Cobián held the

Orange Crush Crush is a brand of carbonated soft drinks owned and marketed internationally by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally created as an orange soda, Orange Crush. It was created in 1911, 30 years before Coca-Cola's Fanta, by beverage and extract chemist ...

soft-drink franchise and was president of the Ana Maria Sugar Company and the Insular Feed Mill. For 25 years he was the major stockholder and board chairman of the Banco Credito y Ahorro Ponceno, which at the time was the second largest bank in Puerto Rico.

Team owner

Valdés Cobián was a founder of the Puerto Rican winter baseball league and owned the

Indios de Mayagüez The Indios de Mayagüez (Mayagüez Indians) are a baseball team in Puerto Rico's Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League, in Spanish). Based in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, the ''Indios' ...

(Mayagüez Indians), the most successful team in the history of the Puerto Rican League. The team was founded in 1938, and once the

Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Oriental Mi ...

(LBPPR in Spanish) was created, the Mayagüez team became a part of it. A management team led by Valdés Cobián owned the team during its initial years.

Politician

Valdés Cobián was elected in 1917 to the

Puerto Rico House of Representatives The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico () is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the bicameral territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The House, together with the Senate, control the legislative branch of the go ...

representing the district of Mayagüez, position in which he served until 1928. In 1928 he won his first of three terms as a member of the

Senate of Puerto Rico The Senate of Puerto Rico () is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control the legislative branch of ...

, and also became president of the Puerto Rican Republican Party.

Later years

In 1960 he was president of the

Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association The Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association (PRMA) is a private, non-profit, and voluntary trade association in Puerto Rico formed with the intent of joining the manufacturing in Puerto Rico, manufacturing and Service industry in Puerto Rico, serv ...

. Valdés Cobián lived in Villa Caparra, a San Juan suburb. On February 8, 1988, Valdés Cobián died in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

, after suffering a heart attack two days earlier, at the age of 97. Valdés Cobián was buried in Bayamón's Porta Coeli Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Grace García, whom he married on August 14, 1939, two daughters, Grace Marie, Encarnita Quinlan and a son, Alfonso Jr., and five grandchildren. After his death, his wife became the president of brewery until her retirement in 2002, when her granddaughter, Camalia Valdés assumed the presidency of the company.

Legacy

The City of Mayagüez honored his memory by naming the street where the Cervecería India Inc. is located Avenida (Blvd.) Alfonso Valdez.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valdes Cobian, Alfonso 1890 births 1988 deaths People from Bayamón, Puerto Rico 20th-century Puerto Rican businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople Sports businesspeople Members of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico Members of the Senate of Puerto Rico Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni American brewers Businesspeople in electricity 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico