José Antonio Dávila
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Dr. José Antonio Dávila (October 7, 1898 – December 4, 1941), born in the City of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, was a well-known poet during Puerto Rico's postmodern era of poetry.
Dávila was raised in a literary family. He received both his primary and secondary education in his hometown and went to high school in Santurce, San Juan.
In 1918, he enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico and later transferred to Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia where he studied medicine, earning his medical degree in 1924. After graduating he established his medical practice in that city. He was married to Alma Blake with whom he had a son (José Antonio Dávila, Jr.). Dávila became ill and had to abandon his medical practice. He was interned at the Saranac Lake Hospital in New York, but returned to Puerto Rico in 1930.
Dávila became a renowned poet and received an award from the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture for his poem Vendimia (1940). His main source of inspiration was his father, the renowned poet and Mayor of Bayamon, Virgilio Dávila.
Much of Dávila's work was published posthumously. Besides Vendimia, his other works are:
- Los Motivos de Tristan ('The Motives of Tristan') (1957)
- Poemas (Poems) (1964)
- Almacen de Baratijas
Davila also wrote a biography of the Bayamonese musician and composer Mariano Feliú Balseiro.
Dr. José Antonio Dávila died in the City of Bayamon on December 4, 1941 and is buried in the city's Porta Coeli Cemetery, next to his father. In his memory the City of Bayamon has named a school and an avenue after him.
