Juan Boria

Juan Boria
Juan Boria
Born	February 17, 1905; Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
Pen name	Negro Verse Pharaoh
Occupation	Teacher, carpenter
Nationality	Afro-Puerto Rican
Genre	Poetry
Subject	Negroid Poems

Juan Boria (February 17, 1905 – May 29, 1995) also known as the Negro Verse Pharaoh, was a Puerto Rican poet known for his Afro-Caribbean poetry.^[1]

Biography

Early years

Juan Boria Romero was born on February 17, 1906, in

carpenter to pay for his studies. He finished his studies in Santurce in 1923.^[2]

At this time, his family moved to the town of

Canóvanas

.

In 1941, Juan Boria married Emérita Rodríguez with whom he had a daughter named: Zayda. From his first marriage, he already had a daughter named: Cruz Amanda.

Starting his career

In 1938, during a show at the school in Canóvanas, he heard a colleague — Pablito Rivera — recite the Negro poem "La negra curandera." He liked it so much that he asked him for a copy to learn and recite at his friends meetings. After some time, his friends prompted him to participate in a program at the WKAQ radio station. The poet Fortunato Vizcarrondo, considered the most important Negro poet in the island at the time, heard him and visited him. Vizcarrondo then offered him other of his poems for him to recite at the program.

In 1941, he participated in a show at

Ramón Rivero (Diplo) to the Panama Canal

to entertain Puerto Rican soldiers stationed there.

International fame

In 1950, he traveled to

Havana, Cuba under the recommendation of "Diplo" and Luis Palés Matos. He planned to stay there for 15 days but was so sought after that he ended up staying two months. He followed with travels to the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Venezuela, Spain, and Portugal, as well as New York, where he headlined at the Teatro Puerto Rico, and other cities in the United States. Afterward, he alternated his artistic activities with his job as a teacher in Río Piedras

.

In 1954, Boria debuted in television on the show Tribuna del Arte from

Mexican/Puerto Rican film Mientras Puerto Rico duerme, directed by Julián Soler. He also appeared in several short films

produced by the Division of Community Education.

From 1965 he traveled several cultural centers, schools, and public squares in Puerto Rico reciting at events sponsored by the Puerto Rican Culture Institute. He also participated at the Cultural Olympics in 1979.

Recognitions

In October, 1980, the 7th Festival of

Wilkins, Haciendo Punto en Otro Son

, and others.

In 1983, the mayor of Dorado, Alfonso López Chaar, acquired the Juana de Arco Theater at the entrance of the town and renamed it as Juan Boria Theater. On November 1, 1984, Boria himself presented his first show at the theater.

Boria retired from teaching in 1974. Afterward, he started his own shop in Cupey.

Boria died May 29, 1995, in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico.

Influences

Although he identified with the works of Vizcarrondo, Palés Matos and Nicolás Guillén, his repertoire included poems from:

Emilio Ballagas
Félix B. Caignet
Gonzalo Castañón
Marcelino Arozamena
Lorenzo Coballés
Alfonso Camín
Pablo Motito
Gilberto Hernández Santana
Enrique Montijo
María Teresa Vallés
Luis Manuel Ruiz
Rubén Suro

Discography

¡Qué negrota! (Mar-Vela, MVLP-107)

References

^ Miguel López Ortiz (July 6, 2015). Biografías: Juan Boria. National Foundation for Popular Culture. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
^ "Juan Boria". Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-08-14.