Christina Aguilera: 1980—: Pop singer. Before her twenty-first birthday, Christina Aguilera claimed multiple platinum records, three Grammy Awards, and record sales well over twenty million copies. A former child actor on the Disney series The New Mickey Mouse Club, Aguilera made her first recording as a fourteen-year-old on a duet with Japanese singer Keizo Nakanishi. While the song wa…
Nestor Almendros: 1930-1992: Cinematographer. The naturalistic look of modern dramatic films, from European art-house creations to mainstream Hollywood products, is in part the creation of cinematographer Nestor Almendros. A master in the use of natural lighting and in the visual composition of a scene in such a way as to reveal the emotions and motivations of a film's characters, Almen…
Luis Walter Alvarez: 1911-1988: Nuclear physicist, inventor, educator. One of the most versatile scientists and inventors of the 20th century, Luis Walter Alvarez used his expertise to impact optics, flight, warfare, and the tracking and measurement of subatomic particles. During World War II, he joined the Manhattan Project to further the creation of the atomic bomb. Upon return to research a…
Rudolfo Anaya: 1937—: Author. An acclaimed Chicano writer, Rudolfo Anaya has become best known for his award-winning novels, such as Bless Me, Ultima (1972), Tortuga (1979), and Alburquerque (1992). Anaya, who taught at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque for nineteen years before retiring in 1993, has also published epic poems, short stories, nonfiction, plays, and children�…
The conflict between roots and assimilation is a staple in the literature of American immigrant experience, but rarely has it been so inventively explored as in American Chica, Marie Arana's memoir of her Peruvian-American background and upbringing. Arana, the editor of the Book World section of the Washington Post, was inspired to write the book almost by accident, after finding herself ov…
Desi Arnaz: 1917-1986: Bandleader, entertainer, producer. Desi Arnaz made his mark as the straight man of the comedic couple behind the popular 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy. A Cuban immigrant, Arnaz was also a very savvy businessman. Arnaz's talents as a singer and entertainer helped to make I Love Lucy the first great television sitcom, but it was his skill as a businessman that built the …
When most people think of art, their immediate response has been to imagine the kind of art found in museums. For instance, the works of Rembrandt or Chagall suggest great art of museum quality. In contrast, the kind of art that people could view on the streets of American cities has not always been considered to be great art. In fact, in the past, such art might have been simply labeled street ar…
Sociologist Maxine Baca Zinn has been pivotal in incorporating the experiences of Hispanics into mainstream sociological thought. She has become a leading expert in the fields of family, gender, and ethnicity. Part of an elite group of female sociologists, Baca Zinn has changed the face of feminism by introducing the experiences of women of color to conventional perspectives on gender. She has ded…
Joan Baez: 1941—: Singer, songwriter, activist. She began her career as a talented singer-songwriter, but Joan Baez became an icon of the 1960s civil-rights movement, and the "Queen of Folk Music." Young, sincere, and talented, she was featured on the cover of Time magazine, launching her as a significant folk singer. Baez became one of the leading voices of social conscio…
Ray Barretto: 1929—: Musician. Ray Barretto has explored and expanded the possibilities of Afro-Cuban Jazz for more than five decades. In the 1950s he introduced the conga drums to bebop, and during the 1960s he spread the sounds of salsa while keeping a busy schedule as a session player. In the 1970s he began experimenting with fusion, and during the 1980s he successfully straddled the…
Carmen Bermúdez is one of the highest-ranking Latina executives in the American financial-services industry. As founder and chief executive officer of Mission Management & Trust Co. in Tucson, Arizona, Bermúdez is considered a pioneer in the asset management sector, for hers was the first such company in the country to be owned by a minority woman. What makes Bermúdez&#…
Ingrid Betancourt: 1961—: Politician. On February 23, 2002, a group of Colombian revolutionaries called the Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) kidnapped presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and her chief of staff, Clara Rojas. While the event received worldwide press coverage, reaction from the Colombian government was more subdued. Political officials had been abducted before, and a n…
Fernando Botero: 1932—: Artist. Considered one of the leading figures in contemporary Latin American art, Fernando Botero has become best known for robust figures whose immense size dominate the canvas. Botero has drawn upon Colombian folklore and history, especially that of his native Antioquia, for inspiration. In the 1990s, Botero paintings began commanding figures as high as $1 mill…
Gisele Bundchen: 1980—: Model. The rise of Brazilian beauty Gisele Bundchen in the late 1990s startled many in the world of fashion. Bundchen's robust, voluptuous looks seemed to mark the end of the era for the so-called "waif look" en vogue at the time, and her tanned, curvy figure was said to have sparked a search for copycat models. Bundchen's stardom was …
Sila María Calderón: 1942—: Governor of Puerto Rico. As the former mayor of San Juan, and as Puerto Rico's first woman governor, Sila María Calderón has set goals to ally Puerto Rico with other Latin American nations and to establish national autonomy. To reduce poverty among 3.8 million mostly Hispanic citizens, she sought tax breaks for investors and…
Armando Calderón Sol: 1948—: Former president of El Salvador. A wealthy lawyer from El Salvador, Armando Calderón Sol worked his way through the political system to serve first as mayor of the capital city, San Salvador, and later as president of the country from 1994 to 1999. Calderón Sol became the first peacetime president in El Salvador following a 12-year civil…
Josefina G. Carbonell: 1950—: Head of U.S. Administration on Aging. The top U.S. official serving the elderly, Josefina G. Carbonell has become a national leader in innovative community services. When she accepted this position in 2001, she became the highest-ranking Hispanic-American appointee to the Department of Health and Human Services. Carbonell has earned respect from Republicans…
Franklin R. Chang-Díaz: 1950—: Astronaut, physicist. As one of the first Hispanic Americans to fly in space, astronaut and physicist Franklin R. Chang-Díaz has participated in seven space shuttle missions. He is a specialist in applied plasma physics and fusion technology, and has worked on experiments aboard the space shuttle that, it is hoped, will lead to signifi-cant i…
César Chávez: 1927-1993: Labor leader. From his birth into brutal poverty as the son of Mexican immigrants, César Estrada Chávez dedicated his life to improving the lot of migrant farm workers in the United States. Through his courage and devotion to "La Causa," he created the first union to successfully represent the interest of the farm laborers who …
Denise Chávez: 1948—: Writer. Inspired by the distinctive culture of the southwestern Borderlands where she was born, writer Denise Elia Chávez has gained critical recognition for her drama and fiction that explores themes of Chicano identity. Chávez writes about waitresses and handymen, hospital workers and bag ladies, and the complex social ties that both constrai…
Roberto Clemente: 1934-1972: Baseball player. The first Puerto Rican member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Roberto Clemente broke down many of the barriers against Latinos in baseball. Puerto Rican broadcaster and journalist Luis Mayoral was quoted in Sports Illustrated as saying, "Clemente was our Jackie Robinson. He was on a crusade to show the American public what a Hispanic man, a bl…
Imogene Coca: 1908-2001: Actress. Imogene Coca was best remembered as the elfin come-dienne with the incredibly flexible face who starred with Sid Caesar on television's Your Show of Shows. Her career spanned from the waning days of vaudeville through the comedy resorts of the Catskills and on through the beginnings of television, extending to a fondly remembered role as elderly Aunt Ed…
Lucha Corpi: 1945—: Poet, novelist. Lucha Corpi has never viewed art and politics as two separate disciplines, but has infused her poetry, short stories, and novels with her experiences as a Hispanic, an immigrant, and as a woman. "I never intended to be a political writer," she told Karin Rosa Ikas in Chicana Ways, "I wrote about what I wanted to write, and I never…
Xavier Cugat: 1900-1990: Musician, bandleader. Xavier Cugat, best known for his "percolating dance numbers [that] swept the country like tropical fever during the 1930s and '40s," according to Time magazine, played and conducted in some of America's most famous nightspots, including New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and Los Angeles's Coconut Grove. A cl…
Oscar de la Renta: 1932—: Fashion designer. Oscar de la Renta is an internationally recognized fashion designer, known for his opulent creations of exotic high fashion for women. Although de la Renta has toned down his offerings to appeal to the more practical needs of working women, he continues to be the designer of choice for the rich and famous, including first ladies Nancy Reagan, …
The name of Vinícius de Moraes is not well known in English-speaking countries, but he helped to create two of the enduring icons of twentieth century culture: the film Black Orpheus and the song "Girl from Ipanema" were both taken from plays and songs he wrote. Moraes was a Brazilian writer whose work over his long career encompassed both the elite realm of poetry and the dem…
When Sonia de León de Vega heard her first Beethoven symphony as a child, she decided to find out all she could about the composer. This inspiration helped launch her life long love affair with classical music that eventually led to her becoming a conductor. In 1986 de Vega conducted the Papal Mass at St. Peter's Ba-silica, and for several years she traveled broadly as a guest conduc…
Benicio Del Toro: 1967—: Actor, writer. Puerto Rican-born Benicio Del Toro has been called the Marlon Brando of his generation, a label he eschewed. "Everybody's like Brando," he told Harper's Bazaar. His own opinion notwithstanding, the tall, dark, somewhat mysterious actor has made his mark by fully inhabiting his various film roles, to critical and popular…
Luis Ernesto Derbéz Bautista: 1947—: Economist, government official. Since his appointment to the post of minister of the economy in 2000, Luis Ernesto Derbéz Bautista has been at the forefront of many of the policies transforming the Mexican economy. Developing newly-elected President Vicente Fox's much-needed economic reform measures, U.S.-trained economist Derb&#…
In 2001 Cari Dominguez was sworn in as chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the foremost civil rights agency in the United States. Dominguez's position has allowed her to continue her lifelong work with employment-related and advancement issues, and to address the barriers raised by discrimination in a proactive, rather than reactive, way. Dominguez was born on March…
Jaime Escalante: 1930—: Educator. A Bolivian immigrant who worked as a math teacher in East Los Angeles, Jaime Escalante gained national recognition for transforming the math department of a poor Hispanic high school. Escalante's unorthodox teaching style motivated hundreds of students to sacrifice their free time and other activities to study for the Advanced Placement math test…
Joseph A. Fernandez: 1921—: Chancellor, educator. Joseph A. Fernandez has remained one of the most groundbreaking and controversial figures in the field of education. A high school dropout and former gang leader, Fernandez turned the heads of policy makers, administrators, teachers, and parents. In fact, some of the very issues he brought forth for consideration, or attempted to have im…
Gabriel Jose García Márquez: 1928—: Author, journalist. One of the most influential novelists of the twentieth century, Gabriel García Márquez was a key figure in the Latin American literary renaissance of the 1960s and 1970s. His novel One Hundred Years of Solitude was read throughout the world, selling millions of copies and introducing enthusiastic readers…
The jazz-inflected Brazilian pop style known as bossa nova remains a permanent fixture of the world's musical vocabulary with its restrained yet complex rhythms; the biggest of all the bossa nova hits, "The Girl from Ipanema," is known to nearly all Americans born before 1960 and to many younger people. One of the creators of that song, and of the entire bossa nova movement, w…
Scott Gomez: 1979—: Professional hockey player. Scott Gomez, the first Hispanic in the National Hockey League (NHL), may well turn out to be one of the greatest success stories in professional hockey. Certainly, he has proven himself to be a fast-rising star. A center and winger player on the New Jersey Devils, Gomez came out flying after his 1998 draft, with an impressive 70 points his…
Arturo Gómez-Pompa, distinguished botany professor at the University of California, Riverside, has won respect from politicians, scientists, and Mesoamericans for championing the rights of the poor in discussions of ecology and rain forest management. His focus is the evaluation of protected areas and the conservation of biodiversity in the American tropics. Through research, speeches, and …
Henry B. González: 1916-2000: Congressman. Henry Barbosa González of Texas served 18 consecutive terms as a U.S. Representative in Congress, from 1961 to 1998. Known as a maverick, he commanded the respect of both his friends and his enemies. His early stance against segregation made him a hero among first generation Mexican-Americans. In 1957, when he was a Texas State Senator, …
Ché (Ernesto) Guevara: 1928-1967: Revolutionary leader. Ernesto Guevara, known around the world by his nickname "Ché," was an Argentine doctor turned Marxist revolutionary who became instrumental in the Cuban revolution during the 1950s. Despite his lack of success outside Cuba, his commitment to worldwide revolution by armed revolt and his subsequent execution in t…
Salma Hayek: 1968(?)—: Actress. Critics have hailed actress Salma Hayek for the forcefulness of her on-screen portrayals made during a relatively short time since her career began in the early 1990s. The Mexican-born actress has also become known for her sultry good looks. "Half peasant, half bombshell, Hayek is the raw stuff of daydreams, a mythical seductress with a figure so s…
Dolores Huerta: 1930—: Labor union leader. One of the most influential labor leaders of the twentieth century, Dolores Huerta's accomplishments include economic, social, and political gains for workers across the United States. While her most significant achievements have been made through the United Farm Workers (UFW) union, which she helped to establish in 1966, Huerta has also…
Nicolás Kanellos: 1945—: Publisher, editor. Nicolás Kanellos has devoted his distinguished academic career to publishing works of Hispanic literature and scholarship in the United States. Through Arte Público Press, which he founded in 1979, he has published a wealth of material that has introduced Hispanic writing to mainstream readers. As he once commented in Cont…
Critics have deemed Cuban-born playwright Eduardo Machado one of the leading dramatic voices in his generation of Latino writers. Machado's English-language works, nearly all of them autobiographical or based on his family's experiences as Cuban émigrés to the United States, have earned him a reputation as a trenchant observer of the social, cultural, and political expe…
Jamil Mahaud: 1949—: Political leader. In a dramatic television address on January 9, 2000, Ecuadorian President Jamil Mahuad announced an economic austerity package designed to jolt the nation's economy out of its worst recession since the 1930s. In addition to privatization plans for some government-operated utilities, Mahuad indicated that subsidies on gasoline and heating fue…
Rosario Marin: 19(?)(?)—: U.S. Treasurer. On August 16, 2001, Rosario Marin was sworn in as the 41st Treasurer of the United States by U.S. Secretary Paul O'Neill. By accepting the oath of office, Marin became the first Mexican-born citizen to head up the Treasury. Her confirmation was also notable as she also became the highest-ranking Hispanic woman in the Bush Administration. …
Sérgio Mendes: 1941—: Musician. From the Bossa Nova craze of 1950s Brazil to the explosion of interest in Latin music on a global basis, Sérgio Mendes has been a constant presence on the contemporary music stage. While best known in the United States for a series of hit albums that helped popularize Latin-influenced, soft-jazz sounds in the 1960s, Mendes's work incl…
Nicholasa Mohr: 1938—: Writer. Nicholasa Mohr achieved critical acclaim with her first novel, Nilda, published in 1973. In fact, Nilda won several notable literary awards. A classic novel of a Puerto Rican girl coming of age in New York City during World War II, Nilda included eight illustrations and a book jacket created by the author that also won several awards. One critic, Donald B.…
Anthony Munoz: 1958—: Former professional football player. Anthony Munoz was an offensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals football team in the National Football League (NFL) from 1980 to 1992. He was an 11-time All-Pro offensive lineman, and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Munoz, a devout Christian, was also known off the field as a gentleman who helped his community and…
Known as one of the twentieth century's most important Latin American poets, Pablo Neruda was "the most frequently discussed Latin American poet of his time. Today, years after his death, his eventful life still evokes great interest, and his works arouse great admiration," according to The Scribner Writers Series. He was also an avid participant in the political arena. He is …
Argentinian-born César Pelli is the architect of some of the most striking skyscrapers on the urban American landscape. Pelli's buildings often boast innovative new design strategies, frequently in the form of an unusually textured or rippled outer "skin." A modest practitioner in a profession known for oversized egos, Pelli rejects architectural style labels such as mo…
Juan Perón: 1895-1974: Former Argentine president. Juan Domingo Perón was indisputably the most influential politician modern Argentina has known. Though he served as president of the beleaguered Latin American country for less than a decade—with a brief reelection a year before his death—his influence has colored Argentine politics for more than half a century. His…
Miguel Piñero: 1946-1988: Playwright, poet, actor. When theater-goers think of contemporary playwrights of color, they might think first of Luis Valdez or perhaps August Wilson. These men, who achieved significant reputations as playwrights, became writers in very conventional ways, having first studied drama, as did Valdez, or having evolved from poet to dramatist, as did Wilson. Both …
A powerful influence on Latinos and a star news anchor and reporter, Jorge Ramos is Spanish-language television's most durable personality. In his reporting, television appearances and debates, and freelance writing, Ramos molds opinion concerning the perils of immigrating to the United States and the importance to Americans of the growing bilingual Hispanic minority. Familiar to fans of Sp…
Silvestre Reyes is a Mexican-American Democratic congressional representative from the 16th District of El Paso, Texas. He is a Vietnam veteran who spent more than 25 years working for the Immigration and Naturalization Services, most notably as the chief of the United States Border Patrol in El Paso. He earned a reputation as an innovative and effective leader by introducing new programs to contr…
Diego Rivera: 1886-1957: Artist. One of the most charismatic, controversial, and creative artists to emerge from the twentieth century, Mexican artist Diego Rivera revived the mural art form and rekindled interest in the folk art of Mexico. Much of the controversy surrounding Diego grew out of his politics. A self-avowed Communist, he nonetheless had no qualms about growing rich off of capital…
Jennifer Rodriguez: 1976—: Olympic speed skater. Jennifer Rodriguez was the first Hispanic-American to win a medal in the Winter Olympic Games. She first won acclaim as an in-line skater before switching to ice speed-skating. She competed in the 1998 Nagano Olympics and at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. In Salt Lake City, she won two bronze medals. …
The epic art of the Mexican muralist school meets the pulsating energy of Latin American neighborhood streets in the works of Alejandro Romero, one of the best-known and most visible Hispanic visual artists in the United States. Trained in Mexico, Romero moved to Chicago in 1975 and began to adorn that city with murals, posters, and conventional paintings. His emotionally intense works, influenced…
A classic conguero, Poncho Sánchez, a giant on the Latin jazz scene, has developed into salsa's elder statesman. Sánchez, a Chicano from Texas, taught himself guitar and congas, and gained experience singing with a teen band, but found himself shut out of opportunities to play with Cubans and Puerto Ricans, who considered themselves the sole heirs of salsa. At age 23 he found …
Arturo Sandoval: 1949—: Jazz trumpeter. Described respectively by reviewers in Billboard as "pushing the limits of his instrument," in The All Music Guide as "technically flawless," and in the Baltimore Sun as "a powerhouse," jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval ranked among Cuba's most exciting musical exports of the late twentieth century. As…
Cristina Saralegui: 1948—: Journalist, talk show host, publisher, author. Cuba native Cristina Saralegui has achieved the American dream with a little bit of clout and a whole lot of perseverance. She was the first and in 2002 only Latin woman to create a media empire that included a number-one talk show, a widely circulated magazine, a successful radio show, and her own production comp…
Selena: 1971-1995: Vocalist. The violent death of beloved Tejano vocalist Selena on March 31, 1995, brought to an end more than just a promising musical career. Selena had become an icon in the Hispanic community, a beloved figure to whom Mexican-Americans attached their aspirations and their feelings about their cultural identities. Among them, her murder evoked an outpouring of grief compara…
Thalía: 1972—: Singer, actress. Known as the Latin music queen and TV's eternal Cinderella of the soaps, Thalía has become a one-word global entertainment phenomenon. Like child star Shirley Temple, she navigated a career starting at age four, in singing groups, two stage musicals, video and movie roles, and TV variety-show hosting. Her appearances in Mexico'…
Jesus Salvador Treviño: 1946—: Director, producer, writer. Jesus Salvador Treviño has become one of the best-known chicano filmmakers in America. Known for his temerity, he has told stories that could be perceived as difficult or risky and has attacked issues that other filmmakers were either too timid or too bound by restrictions to attempt. Treviño has also direct…
Known the world over as a musical giant, the six and a half foot tall Chucho Valdés's physical stature matched his musical accomplishment. The Afro-Cuban musician has been been the recipient of five Grammy Award nominations and two Grammys. His fascinating blend of African, South American, Cuban, and Spanish musical traditions seemed to rate a category of music all its own, and was j…
Ritchie Valens: 1941-1959: Performer. Although his career included just a handful of recording and concert dates, Ritchie Valens attained a place in music history as the first Latino rock-and-roll star. With a string of hit singles behind him at the age of seventeen, the musician's future was tragically cut short, however, when he died in a plane crash along with a group that included B…
Jaci Velasquez: 1979—: Vocalist. Jaci Velasquez made one of the most stunning debuts in contemporary Christian music history with her first album, Heavenly Place, in 1996. The album eventually earned a gold record with over 500,000 copies sold and helped Velasquez earn a Gospel Music Association Dove Award for Best New Artist in 1997. With her subsequent releases Velasquez earned severa…
Alberto Vilar: 1940—: Investor, philanthropist. A leading philanthropist, visionary investor Alberto W. Vilar enjoys giving money away. Because his father refused him music lessons, Vilar studied finance and co-founded Amerindo Investment Advisers, a management house with an $8 billion portfolio that controls endowments, family trusts, foundations, and pension funds. He spends his earni…