Portal:Puerto Rico/Selected biography

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Selected biography

Captain Humbert Roque "Rocky" Versace (July 2, 1937–September 26, 1965) was a United States Army officer of Puerto Rican-Italian descent who was awarded the United States' highest military decoration — the Medal of Honor — for his heroic actions while a prisoner of war (POW) during the Vietnam War.

While acting as intelligence advisor to South Vietnamese fighters, their unit was ambushed by opposing forces, and Versace provided sufficient covering fire for his unit to evacuate. However, he was wounded and taken prisoner deep in the jungle along with two other Americans. He tried to escape a total of four times, all unsuccessful. Versace insulted the Viet Cong and cited the Geneva Convention treaty during the indoctrination sessions, and was last seen singing "God Bless America" as he was taken away for execution. He was the first member of the U.S. Army to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions performed in Southeast Asia while in captivity. (more...)

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Lieutenant General Pedro Augusto del Valle (August 28, 1893 – April 28, 1978) was a United States Marine Corps officer who became the first Hispanic to reach the rank of Lieutenant General. His military career included service in World War I, Haiti and Nicaragua during the so-called Banana Wars of the 1920s, and in the seizure of Guadalcanal and later as Commanding General of the U.S. 1st Marine Division during World War ll.

On May 29, 1945, del Valle participated in one of the most important events which led to victory in Okinawa. After five weeks of fighting, his Batallion captured Shuri Castle, a medieval fortress of the ancient Ryukyuan kings, which represented a moral blow for the Japanese and was an undeniable milestone in the Okinawa campaign. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for outstanding leadership as Commanding General of the First Marine Division, during the attack and occupation of Okinawa from 1 April to 21 July 1945. (more...)

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Sylvia Mendez (born 1936) is an American civil rights activist of Mexican-Puerto Rican heritage. At age eight, she played an instrumental role in the Mendez v. Westminster case, the landmark desegregation case of 1946, when she was denied enrollment to a "Whites" only school. This prompted her parents to take civil action, and the case would successfully end de jure segregation in California and set a precedent for the better-known Brown v. Board of Education seven years later; bringing an end the era of segregated education and paving the way for integration and the American civil rights movement. (more...)

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Ramón Emeterio Betances (April 8, 1827 – September 16, 1898), was a Puerto Rican nationalist, and the primary instigator of the Grito de Lares revolution. As such, he is considered to be the father of the Puerto Rican independence movement commonly referred to "El Padre de la Patria" (Father of the Puerto Rican Nation). He was the most renowned medical doctor and surgeon of his time in Puerto Rico, and one of its first social hygienists. He was also a diplomat, public health administrator, poet and novelist. A firm believer in Freemasonry, his political and social activism was deeply influenced by the group's philosophical beliefs. (more...)

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Héctor Lavoe (September 30, 1946 - June 29, 1993) was an internationally renowned Puerto Rican salsa singer born and raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Lavoe joined Willie Colón's band, performing as the band vocalist, before forming his own band, performing as lead vocalist. Lavoe recorded several musical hits, including Bandolera, El periódico de ayer, Mi gente and El cantante (written by Ruben Blades just for him), reaching international star status. His career includes two stellar performances, one during the 1974 Congo promotional activities of the Ali-Foreman fight and a 1975 concert at Yankee stadium. However, Lavoe was stricken with several tragedies during his lifetime, including a lifelong addiction to heroin. After several failed attempts at a comeback, he died penniless from complications from AIDS. (more...)

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Miguel Cotto (born October 29, 1980 in Caguas, Puerto Rico) is a professional boxer. He is a former World Boxing Organization Light Welterweight champion and is the current World Boxing Association Welterweight champion. As an amateur, Cotto represented Puerto Rico in the Lightweight and Light Welterweight divisions at various international events including the 1999 Pan American Games, the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 1998 Junior World Championships where he finished second. Cotto began his professional career in 2001, and defended the WBO Junior Welterweight Championship successfully a total of six times before ascendeding to the Welterweight division, winning the WBA Welterweight Championship on his first match on this division. His record stands as undefeated with 31-0-0, including 25 wins by KO. (more...)

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Carlos Edwin Colón, Jr. (born on February 21, 1979) is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler better known internationally by his ring name Carlito; while in his native Puerto Rico he is known as both Carly and Carlito. Although currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) RAW brand, Colón occasionally still performs in the World Wrestling Council (WWC) where he is a former eleven-time Universal Heavyweight Championship.

After having success in the World Wrestling Council, Carlito signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment in 2003. During his time in WWE as Carlito, Colón has won the WWE United States Championship and the WWE Intercontinental Championship and has been part of the RAW and SmackDown brands. He is the only wrestler to win titles on two separate debuts in WWE, and the second Puerto Rican to become WWE Intercontinental Champion. (more...)

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José Juan Barea (born June 26, 1984 in Mayagüez) is a Puerto Rican professional basketball player who plays point guard. Professionally, Barea has played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), NBA Development League, National Collegiate Athletic Association and the National Superior Basketball (BSN) with Mayaguez Indios and the Santurce Crabbers. He participated in the 2006 NBA Draft but was undrafted, and he was subsequently signed by the Dallas Mavericks following his participation in the NBA Vegas Summer league, becoming the seventh Puerto Rican to play in the NBA. He was a member of the Puerto Rican team that won the gold medal in the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games. Barea was the starting point guard of the Puerto Rican national team's second squad that won the silver medal in the 2007 Pan American Games. (more...)

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Roberto Clemente Walker (August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a professional baseball player and a former Major League Baseball right fielder. Clemente was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. Clemente played eighteen seasons in Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1972, all with Pittsburgh. He was awarded the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award in 1966. During the course of his career, Clemente was selected to participate in the league's All Star Game on twelve occasions. He won twelve Gold Glove Awards and led the league in scoring during four different seasons. He was involved in charity work both in Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries, often delivering baseball equipment and food to them. He died in an aviation accident on December 31, 1972, while en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. His body was never recovered. He was elected to the Hall of Fame posthumously in 1973, thus becoming the first Latin American to be selected and the and the only current Hall of Famer whose mandatory five year waiting period was waived since it was instituted. (more...)

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Daniel Santos (born October 10, 1975 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. As an amateur Santos represented Puerto Rico in international events, including the 1990 and 1992 Junior World Championships, Pan American Boxing Tournament, Goodwill Games, 1995 Pan American Games and the 1996 Summer Olympics, where he won a bronze medal in the Welterweight Division. Santos debuted as a professional in 1996. Santos won the World Boxing Organization Welterweight championship on June 5, 2000. On March 16, 2002 he vacated the welterweight division's championship in order to compete against Yori Boy Campas for the vacant World Boxing Organization Light middleweight championship. Santos defended this championship on four occasions, against Mehrdud Takaloo (in a fight where he won the World Boxing Union Light middleweight championship), Fulgencio Zúñiga, Michael Lerma and Antonio Margarito before losing it to Sergiy Dzindziruk by unanimous decision in a fight that took place on December 3, 2005. (more...)

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Ramón (Raymond) Ayala (born February 3, 1977 in San Juan, Puerto Rico), known artistically as Daddy Yankee, is a Latin Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican reggaeton recording artist. Ayala was born in Río Piedras the largest district of San Juan, where he became interested in music at a young age. After receiving lessons from several artists within the genre, he developed an independent career, first recording in a production titled Playero 37. After this he began to produce independent albums. His first solo album was No Mercy. He subsequently formed a duo with Nicky Jam, and then continued his solo career with the releases of El Cartel and El Cartel II. In 2002 El Cangri.com became Ayala's first album with international success, receiving coverage in the markets of New York and Miami. Barrio Fino was released in 2004, and the album received numerous awards, including a Premio Lo Nuestro and a Latin Billboard, as well as receiving nominations for the Latin Grammy and MTV Video Music Awards. Barrio Fino performed well in the sales charts of the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Japan. On June 5, 2007, El Cartel Records released El Cartel: The Big Boss, which was ranked as the top-selling album in Latin music genres in 2007. He promoted the album with an international tour which began in the United States and continued through Latin America, breaking attendance records in Ecuador and Bolivia. His performances have appeared on more than 70 albums, including compilations such as Mas Flow 2 and Blin Blin Vol. 1. (more...)

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Iván Rodríguez Torres (born November 30, 1971, in Manatí, Puerto Rico), is a professional baseball player for the Detroit Tigers. Iván is considered by many to be the greatest defensive catcher ever. Although he has had the nickname "Pudge" since his youth, Rodríguez was often compared early on to the veteran catcher Carlton Fisk, who was also called "Pudge." Rodríguez was awarded the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award in 1999. He ranked fourth in the AL among catchers in batting average, at .260.

He won the World Series with the Florida Marlins in 2003, and again reached the World Series as the starting catcher for the 2006 Detroit Tigers.Rodríguez has caught two no-hitters for two different pitchers. The first one was in 1994 when he caught a perfect game by Kenny Rogers. The most recent one was on June 12, 2007 when he caught the no-hitter thrown by Justin Verlander. (more...)

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Gilbert Cosme (born May 25, 1976) better known by his ring name Ricky Banderas, is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He began his career in the International Wrestling Association based on Puerto Rico. While performing in the company, he won the IWA World Heavyweight Championship on five instances and held minor championships on fifteen separate occasions, before leaving the company in 2006. On March 12, 2006 he debuted in Asistencia Asesoría y Administración, a promotion based in Mexico as a character named Muerte Cibernetica and was involved in an angle where this character was "killed". In November 2006, Cosme was involved in the tapings of the Wrestling Society X television series, where he was the second and last wrestler to win the WSX Championship. Following a month of performing in the International Wrestling Association, Cosme returned to Asistencia Asesoría y Administración in a special event presented by the company, this time under the ring name of Mesias. In September 2007, the company organized a unification tournament where all of the champions and first contenders participated. Over the course of the tournament, he won the GPCW Super-X Monster Championship and IWC World Heavyweight Championship, and on the tournament's finale, he became the first wrestler to win the AAA World Heavyweight Championship. (more...)

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Daniel Santos (February 5, 1916 – November 27, 1992) was a singer and composer of boleros, and an overall performer of multiple Caribbean music genres, including guaracha, plena and rumba. Over the course of his career he adopted several names created by the public and became known as "El Jefe" and "El Inquieto Anacobero". Santos was born and raised in San Juan, where he began his education. When he was young his family moved to New York, where he resided until he was a adult. His artistic career began when he was contracted by the Trio Lirico, a Latin American trio that performed at social events. After briefly moving back to Puerto Rico he returned to Manhattan, where he worked in a nightclub and the Cuban Casino. On 1942, Santos was drafted by the United States military, and was assigned to serve as a part of the medical personnel working at World War II. Santos relocated to Havana, Cuba on 1946, where he obtained national success as a soloist. While in Cuba he joined the Sonora Matancera, and recorded several albums with the group. His participation with the group was followed by a international tour which focused on Latin American and the United States. On 1962, he abandoned Cuba and continued performing on several Latin American countries until his retirement. (more...)

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Roberto Cofresí (June 17, 1791 – March 29, 1825), better known as "El Pirata Cofresí", is the most renowned pirate in Puerto Rico. He became interested in sailing at a young age. By the time he reached adulthood there were some political and economic difficulties in Puerto Rico, which at the time was a colony of Spain. Influenced by this situation he decided to become a pirate in 1818. Cofresí commanded several assaults against cargo vessels focusing on those that were responsible for exporting gold. During this time he focused his attention on ships from the United States and the local Spanish government ignored several of these actions. On March 5, 1825, Cofresí engaged a float of ships led by John Slout in battle. He eventually abandoned his ship and tried to escape by land before being captured. After being imprisoned he was sent to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where a brief military trial found him guilty and on March 29, 1825, he and other members of his crew where executed by a firing squad. After his death his life was used as inspiration for several stories and myths, which served as the basis for books and other media. (more...)

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