Joaquín Agustín Burset Masferrer (23 July 1881 – 28 December 1967) was a Spanish musician, politician, and journalist. He became well-known for his contributions in politics and music in the Caribbean.[how?] He traveled all over the Caribbean where he joined the Puerto Rican Socialist Party. He soon became the senator of the Party where he promoted musical education. After the establishment of radio in Puerto Rico, he became the first musical director of the radio station WKAQ.[1]
Early life
editMasferrer was born on 23 July 1881 in the town of Marín, Pontevedra province in Galicia, Spain to Martín Burcet y Romero and Merced Teresa de la Encarnación Masferré Berríos. [2] His parents got married in the year 1873 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His father was born on 30 October 1839 in the town of Marín. His mother was born on 25 May 1851 in Humacao, Puerto Rico to a Spanish father and a Puerto Rican mother.
On 24 July 1907, Masferrer married María Providencia Vélez López, the sister of baritone Evaristo Vélez López, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Together they had six children: Mercedes Josefina (1908–1910), Luisa Mercedes Josefina (1910–2000), Cecilia Providencia (1912–2007), Joaquín Evaristo (1913–1916), José Manuel (1917–1997), and Joaquín Rafael (1926–2006). [3]
In the 1920s, he spent most of his life in San Francisco, Aguada and lived in Viejo San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico in the 1930s.
Masferrer died on 28 December 1967 in the barrio of Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico, at the age of 86. He was buried in the city of Carolina, Puerto Rico. [4]
Education and career
editMasferrer started studying the flute, piano, and violin at the Municipal Conservatory of Barcelona and graduated in 1895.[5] After graduating he returned to Puerto Rico with his mother. [6]
After returning to Puerto Rico, Masferrer started working as an editor for the newspaper, Boletín Mercantil at the age of 14. He worked there until 1903.
References
edit- ^ The Billboard. The Billboard Encyclopedia of Music, Vol. I. 1946–47 Eigth Annual Edition, 125.
- ^ "Academia".
- ^ "Family Search".
- ^ "Family Search".
- ^ Asenjo, Conrado (1947). Quién es quién en Puerto Rico. Diccionario biográfico de récord personal. p. 34.
- ^ "Censo Federal de 1910". Federal Census of Puerto Rico: 3B. 1910.