Manuel Fernández Juncos

Born in Ribadesella, Asturias, on December 11, 1846, Manuel Fernández Juncos later settled in Puerto Rico, where he built a long career as a journalist, poet, and author. He became an important literary and public voice on the island, and his work is often linked with Puerto Rico’s cultural identity.

Fernández Juncos is best known today for writing the official lyrics to "La Borinqueña," the national anthem of Puerto Rico. Sources also describe him as a humanitarian figure as well as a man of letters, suggesting that his public work reached beyond journalism and literature alone.

He died in San Juan on August 18, 1928. Though brief modern summaries do not always capture the full range of his writing, he remains a notable figure in Puerto Rican cultural history for the lasting place of his words in the island’s public memory.