Famous Latinx Birthdays

Photo from ibtimes.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Julie Gonzalo! (1981-     ) An Argentine American actress known for her role as Pamela Rebecca Barnes in TNT's Dallas , Gonzalo was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and raised in Miami. She also had roles in Freaky Friday, A Cinderella Story , and Christmas With the Kranks , as well as several other television roles. She began her career as a print model before moving to Los Angeles. Her debut was as a supporting role in the 2002 romantic comedy I'm With Lucy . See her discuss her beauty routine (in Spanish) on Despierta América in this 2015 clip. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from mx.hola.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Esmeralda Pimentel! (1989-) A Mexican Dominican actress (she was born in Mexico to a Dominican father and a Mexican mother), Pimentel began her career as a model participating in Nuestra Belleza México in 2007. She then studied acting at the Centro de Educación Artística de Televisa before appearing on the telenovela Verano de amor in 2009. She then worked on Abismo de pasión, Cachito del cielo , and De que te quiero, te quiero . Her most recent work was on Las bellas y las bestias in 2018. See her talk (in Spanish) about family and friends in this Vanity Fair Mexico video from 2017. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Roxana Puente! (1990-     ) A Mexican singer and actress who became well-known for her role on Atrévete a Soñar (2009-2010), a teen telenovela based on Argentina's Patito Feo and produced by Televisa. She was also in the children's reality show Códiga Fama (before Atrévete) and appeared in In the Name of Love (2008) and Como dice el dicho (2011). For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from wikipedia ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Justina Machado! (1972-      ) A Puerto Rican actress born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Machado is best known for her roles as Vanessa Diaz in HBO's Six Feet Under and Brenda on USA Network's Queen of the South . She grew up on the Northwest side of Chicago, and has said that her family was poor. She was raised Catholic and celebrated a traditional quinceañera . Machado always loved theater and took part in all her school's plays. She also performed with the Latino Chicago Theater Company. After graduating from high school in 1990 Machado moved to New York City and then to Los Angeles in 1996. She has now appeared in more than 15 films in addition to her theater and television work. To see her interviewed (in Spanish) about her role on the Netflix series One Day at a Time, click HERE . For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from The Paris Review, January 2018. Author and translator David Unger recalls his admiration for Parra's work yet his difficulty working with him on a book of his translated poems. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Nicanor Parra! (1914-Jan. 23 2018) "I do physics in order to earn my living, and I do poetry in order to keep alive." A Chilean poet, mathematician, and physicist whose "anti-poetry" movement was influential throughout Latin America, Parra was proposed on four occasions for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He won the prestigious Cervantes Prize in 2011 and the Pablo Neruda Ibero-American Poetry Award in 2012. Parra was one of nine children born to Nicanor Parra Sr., a schoolteacher and musician, and Rosa Clarisa Sandoval Navarrete, a dressmaker, in San Fabián de Alico, in Southern Chile. Parra's parents made sure that their children were steeped in culture, and several of Parra's siblings also became respected artists. His sis...

Photo from abcnews.go.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a Héctor El Father (Héctor Luis Delgado Román)! (1979-      ) A retired Puerto Rican rapper, singer, and record producer, Héctor El Father was a reggaeton trailblazer who began his career with Tito El Bambino as the duo known as Héctor & Tito (and also: Los Bambinos). They released several successful albums together and were the first reggaeton artists to sell out a major concert in Puerto Rico. The duo broke up in 2004 and they began their solo careers. In 2005 Héctor El Father signed with Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records and became the Hispanic image for the Roc-A-Fella clothing line Rocawear. Héctor retired from rapping in 2008 (though he did do several farewell concerts through 2010). He then obtained a degree in Theology from Southern Methodist University and has dedicated his life to serving God in Puerto Rico. A 2018 film, Conocerás la verdad , explores his life and conversion (click HERE for tra...

Photo from eldiario.es. Click HERE . ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Eduardo Galeano! (1940-2015) A Uruguayan journalist, writer, and novelist considered one of the most important figures of the Latin American left, Galeano's book Las venas abiertas de América Latina (1971) was one of the few possessions writer Isabel Allende took with her when she fled Chile after Pinochet's military coup. The book, which chronicles U.S. and European imperialism in the region, was also given to President Barack Obama by Venezuela's leader Hugo Chávez in 2009 when he made an official state visit (click HERE for more). Galeano, who was born in Montevideo, began his career as a journalist in the early 60s as an editor for Marcha , an influential weekly journal. After the military coup in Uruguay in 1973, he was imprisoned and later forced to flee to Argentina. When the Videla regime took over Argentina several years later, he fled to Spain. He returned to Uruguay in 1985 when democracy was re...

Photo from harpersbazaar.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Salma Hayek! (1966-   ) *y a .. Eugenio Derbez! (1962-      ) See below! A Mexican American actress, director,  producer, and businesswoman of Spanish and Lebanese descent, Hayek began her career in Mexico starring in the telenovela Teresa . She then starred in the film El Callejón de los Milagros , one of the most award-winning Mexican films of all time (she was nominated for an Ariel award for her performance). Hayek moved to Hollywood in 1991 and soon had a string of back to back hits: Desesperado (1995), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Dogma (1999), and Wild Wild West (1999). She then started her own production company, Ventanarosa . She co-produced and starred in Frida , released in 2002, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe, among other honors. She then won a Daytime Emmy for directing 2004's The Maldonado Miracl...

Photo from grammy.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Gloria Estefan! (1957-      ) A Cuban American singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman with three Grammy Awards, Estefan was named one of Billboard Magazine's Top 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, among many other honors (among them a BMI Songwriter of the Year Award, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom). Born in Havana, Cuba to a middle class family, Estefan fled to Miami, Florida with her family after Castro's Revolution. Her father, who had been a soldier in Cuba, joined the military and served in Vietnam, retiring after the Bay of Pigs. He returned from Vietnam sick, and Estefan helped her mother, a school teacher, care for him. She went on to study psychology and French at the University of Miami, working as a translator at Customs at the airport for a while after graduation. In 1974, Estefan became a naturalized citizen of the United States. She m...

Photo from standard.co.uk. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... David Ospina! (1988-  ) A Colombian professional soccer player who plays goalkeeper for the English club Arsenal and the Colombian national team, Ospina was a player to watch in the FIFA World Cup 2018 (Colombia lost in penalty kicks to England in the round of 16). Click HERE to see one of his saves, named "Save of the Day" by Fox Sports, in that World Cup. Ospina and his wife, Colombian model Jessica Sterling, have two children, Dulce María and Maximiliano. For several years he was brother in law to fellow Colombian player James Rodríguez, who was married to his sister Daniela in 2011, though they separated in July of 2017. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from lecturas.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Cameron Diaz! (1972-     ) An actress, producer, author, and model whose father's family is Cuban, Diaz is the 3rd highest grossing U.S. domestic box office actress (after Scarlett Johansson and Emma Watson). In 2013 she was the highest paid actress over 40 in Hollywood. Diaz's father, Emilio Diaz, was working for the California oil company Unocal when his daughter was born in San Diego. Previously the family had lived in Florida. Emilio Diaz's parents had come to the United States from Cuba. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from foxsports.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Néstor Araujo! (1991-       ) A professional soccer player from Mexico who plays for the Spanish club Celta de Vigo as well as the Mexican national team, Araujo missed the 2018 World Cup in Russia due to a knee injury. Araujo represented Mexico in the 2011 Copa América, the Copa América Centenario, and the 2017 FIFA Confederations. He won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics when Mexico defeated Brazil in the finals. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Araujo is one of six children. He used to get up before school to help his mother sell in the market as well as go to the nearby Jalisco stadiums on weekend to help his father re-sell tickets for a profit. He credits his older brother, Felix, also a soccer player, with inspiring him and "straightening him out" when he was not reaching his full potential as a player on one of Mexico's main teams, Cruz Azul. "Now I'm much more mature. I know what is ...

Photo from nydailynews.com. Click HERE (article includes interview in which he talks about why he raises his 5 children in Vermont and what he does to remain grounded and humble).  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Luis Gúzman! (1956-      ) A Puerto Rican actor who has been in multiple movies and television shows since the late 1970s (including the 1993 movie Carlito's Way with Al Pacino, Sean Penn, and John Leguizamo), Gúzman was born in Cayey, Puerto Rico and raised in Greenwich Village, New York City. His mom, Rosa, was a hospital worker and his dad, Benjamín, was a TV repairman. Guzmán at first worked as a social worker and only moonlighted as an actor,  but he eventually turned to acting full time. He most recently appeared in CBS's Code Black , with the season finale appearing July 18, 2018. He often plays supporting roles, though he had his first leading role in 2013's Aztec Warrior, a movie about a washed-up Mexican wrestler. He and wife Angelita Galarza-...

Photo from pagesix.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... César Millán! (1969-      ) A Mexican American dog trainer known for his television show Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan  (2004-2012) as well as his three New York Times bestsellers, Millán was born in Sinaloa, Mexico and grew up working with animals on the farm where his grandfather was a tenant farmer. He came to the United States when he was 21 years old speaking no English and with only $100 to his name. His first job was washing dog kennels, something that led him to his current career (read more HERE ). He also met actress Jada Pinkett Smith, who helped set him up with a tutor to learn English, and who became one of his first clients at the Pacific Point Canine Academy, and then the Dog Psychology Center, where he worked with large breed dogs with significant behavior problems. A write-up in the L.A. Times then led to his show, which soon became National Geographic's #1 show. Millán and f...

Photo from The Paris Review, 1984. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Julio Cortázar! (1914-1984) An Argentinian writer known as a modern master of the short story, though he also wrote poetry, novels, and other works, Cortázar is credited as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom. Born in Brussels in 1914, he and his family returned to Argentina after the war, and he grew up in Banfield, near Buenos Aires. His father left the family soon after they returned in 1919, never to be heard from again. As a child, Cortázar was often sick and spent much time in bed reading the works of Jules Verne. He graduated with a degree in teaching and worked as a schoolteacher through the 1940s, only writing on the side. In 1951 he moved to Paris and began writing in earnest. By the time he died in 1984 at 69 years old, he was widely revered for his writing, and the Madrid newspaper El País published 11 full pages of tributes and farewells over two days. Cortázar became deeply inves...

Rufin Tamayo's  Trovador  (1945), which broke previous records for Latin American art when it sold at Christie's for $7.2 million in 2008. Click  HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Rufino Tamayo! (1899-1991) A renowned Mexican painter of Zapotec heritage, Tamayo, who was born in Oaxaca, moved to Mexico City to live with his aunt after his parents died when he was a child. There, he worked alongside her in the city's fruit markets. In 1917, she enrolled him in the  Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas  at San Carlos. He later worked for José Vasconcelos at the Department of Ethnographic Drawings. Unlike Orozco, Rivera, and Siqueiros, Tamayo eschewed political art and actually thought that the Revolution would hurt Mexico. In 1926 he left Mexico to live in New York City, and in 1939, he and his wife Olga, whom he had married in 1934, moved to Paris for a decade. Tamayo ultimately received high praise for his work in Mexico, and today you can visit the Museo...

Photo from The Paris Review, 1967. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Jorge Luis Borges! (1899-1986) A short story writer, essayist, poet, and translator from Argentina whose work explored existential questions with dreams, labyrinths, philosophy, libraries, mirrors, and mythology, Borges is often credited with beginning the magic realist movement in Latin American literature in the 20th century. His best known books are Ficciones and El Aleph , both published in the 40s. Born in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, he moved with his family to Switzerland in 1914, where they stayed until 1921. Raised speaking both Spanish and English (he was reading the works of Shakespeare, in English, at the age of 12), Borges eventually became fluent in many languages. He served as a Professor of English Literature at the University of Buenos Aires for many years, as well as the Director of the National Library. When Perón returned from exile and was re-elected in 1973, Borges immediately resi...

Photo from cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Antonia Coello Novello! (1944-     ) A Puerto Rican physician and public health administrator who served as the 14th Surgeon General of the United States (1990-1993), Coello Novello was the first woman and the first Latina to serve in this position. Born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, she was the oldest of three children. After her father died when she was eight, she was raised mostly by her schoolteacher mother, who emphasized the importance of education. Coello suffered from congenital megacolon, which had been diagnosed at birth, and she was in and out of hospitals her entire childhood. She finally had surgery at age 18 to help with the pain. This experience motivated her to become a doctor to help others suffering as she had. She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine in San Juan in 1970 (the same year she married her husband, US Navy flight surgeon and children's ps...

Photo from wavenespapers.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Ricardo Hurtado! (1999-      ) An actor and musician who became famous playing Freddy on the Nickelodeon series School of Rock , Hurtado was born to Nicaraguan parents in Miami. He moved with his family to Atlanta, Georgia when he was one years old. Hurtado's father is a musician (a piano player with a degree in music from the University of Georgia). "Everyone on my dad's side of the family is a musician," he told an interviewer in 2016, adding that his uncle played the guitar. In the same interview , Hurtado talks about his faith and says, "My main goal in life if to be as close as I can be to God." He wrote his first song for this purpose -- his second song was about a breakup. Listen to Hurtado speak Spanish at this 2017 interview outside the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from wikipedia.  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Emiliano "Emilio" Mercado del Toro! (1891-2007) A supercentenarian who at age 115 was the world's oldest living man for six weeks, Mercado del Toro was born in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico when Puerto Rico was still a part of Spain's empire. He remembers U.S. troops on the island in 1898 fighting to end Spain's rule. In October of 1918 he was drafted into the U.S. Army to serve in World War I (he was still at training camp when an armistice was signed a month later). Mercado del Toro worked in the cane fields until he was 81. He never married nor had children, but he spoke of having three girlfriends during his life. He credits his longevity on his sense of humor and eating funche , a dish consisting of boiled corn, codfish, and milk, every day. See a brief video of him being celebrated in Puerto Rico towards the end of his life HERE . For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from sfgate.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Demi Lovato! (1992-     ) An American singer, songwriter, and actress whose father, Patrick, was from a family of Mexican descent that had been living in New Mexico for generations, Lovato began her career on Barney & Friends as a child. She then appeared in Disney Channel's Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2 before beginning her singing career. She has six studio albums - Don't Forget (2008), Here We Go Again (2009), Unbroken (2011), Demi (2013), Confident (2015), and Tell Me You Love Me (2017). She is a Grammy-nominated multi-platinum singer as well as a businesswoman and activist. In 2016 she received GLAAD's Vanguard Award for her work raising awareness around LGBT issues. She has also been honored for her work bringing awareness to mental health. Lovato has openly struggled with bipolar disorder, addiction, self-harm, and an eating disorder. Read more on her official website HERE . For resour...

Photo from sloansportsconference.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Mary Joe Fernández! (1971-      ) A former professional tennis player born in the Dominican Republic (to a Spanish father and a Cuban mother) and raised in Miami, Florida, Fernández turned pro in 1986 at the age of 15. She went on to win seven career singles titles and 17 doubles titles and three Olympic medals (two golds, one bronze). At her peak she was ranked #4 in the world. Fernández retired in 2000 and has since worked as a tennis commentator for ESPN and CBS. She was also coach of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team to London. She and husband Anthony Lewisohn Godsick, married in 2000, have two children, Isabella and Nicholas. See her interviewed in 2008 (in Spanish) about the tennis program for children QuickStart and important moments in her career  HERE . For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from baseballhall.org. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Roberto Clemente! (1934-1972) A Puerto Rican professional baseball player (18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates) and humanitarian, Clemente died at the age of 38 in a plane crash while en route to Nicaragua to deliver relief to earth quake victims. An All Star for 12 seasons who played in 15 All Star games, winner of the Golden Glove Award for twelve consecutive years from 1961 to 1972, National League batting leader in 1961, 64, 65, and 67, and the World Series MVP in 1971, Clemente was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973. Born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Clemente was the youngest of seven siblings. His father was the foreman of sugar crops located there, and he often took his son with him to work to help load and unload the trucks. Clemente always loved playing baseball and joined Puerto Rico's amateur league when he was 16. When he was 18 he signed a contract with the Cangrejeros of San...

Photo from espn.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Jorge Posada! (1971-      ) A former Major League Baseball player for the New York Yankees (he retired in 2011 after 17 seasons), Posada is a 5-time All Star who was on the roster for four World Series championship teams. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico to a Dominican mother and a Cuban father (who had fled to Puerto Rico to escape Fidel Castro's regime), Posada attended Alejandrino High School in the city. He didn't have the SAT scores to attend a four year college, but he was recruited by Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Alabama, where he enrolled in 1991. He played there for two years before being drafted by the Yankees. Posada has been married to Laura Mendez, a former model and actress who now works as an attorney (and who was the pitcher in softball games that Posada used to umpire in high school), since January of 2000. Derek Jeter was his best man. They have two children together, Jorge Luis ...

Photo from tennisworldusa.org. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Diego Schwartzman! (1992-      ) A professional tennis player from Argentina ranked #11 in the world as of June 2018, Schwartzman was born in Buenos Aires, where his family still resides. His nickname is "El Peque," for "pequeño," as he is only 5'7", short for tennis. He has two brothers, Andrés and Matías, a computer programmer and a travel agent, and one sister, Natali, a lawyer. A June 2017 story in The Times of Israel called Schwartzman, whose ancestors immigrated from Germany, "the best Jewish tennis player on earth." Schwartzman told them that his Jewish fans in Buenos Aires are constantly wishing him good luck: "I am Jewish and in Argentina, we have many Jewish people ... and all the people there know me. [People tell me] enjoy! Good luck this season. Come on, keep going!" A huge fan of the Boca Jrs. soccer team, Schwartzman enjoys watching them in the famo...

Image from ignatiansolidarity.net. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Óscar Romero! (1917-1980) An archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador who spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations, and torture, Romero was assassinated while offering mass in the chapel of the Hospital of Divine Providence in 1980. He had delivered a sermon on the radio the day before in which he called on Salvadoran soldiers, as Christians, to obey God's higher order and stop carrying out the government's repressions and violations of basic human rights. 250,000 mourners attended his funeral, despite the danger. Jesuit priest John Dear called it "the largest demonstration in Salvadoran history - some say in the history of Latin America." Romero was initially considered a social conservative when he was appointed archbishop in 1977, but the assassination of his friend and fellow priest Rutilio Grande, who had called for workers' rights, several weeks after his ordinat...

Image from wikipedia.  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora! (1645-1700) An intellectual born in Mexico City, New Spain, the second oldest and first male of nine siblings, Sigüenza y Góngora was a secular priest (kicked out of the Jesuits for disobedience), poet, non-fiction writer, historian, philosopher, and cartographer. He was so revered for his learning that French king Louis XIV tried to convince him to come to Paris. He was also a contemporary of Sor Juana de la Cruz, and he delivered the eulogy at her funeral. He had a devotion to science and a strong interest in the indigenous past of Mexico. Because of this, he learned Nahuatl and collected books and other materials about the Aztecs and ancient Tolmec culture. He also wrote about la Virgin de Guadalupe , whose said appearance in Mexico on December 12th 1531 remains a major part of Mexican culture today. When Sigüenza y Góngora died, he dedicated his body to science and urged his family and the church...

Photo from marca.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Israel Jiménez! (1989-      ) A Mexican soccer player who won a gold medal with the Tri in the 2012 Summer Olympics, when the team defeated Brazil in the finals, Jiménez  now plays for the Tigres in the Liga MX. The youngest in his family, he was raised Catholic in Monterrey, Mexico. He has said about his family: "No habría podido conseguir nada sin ellos. Llega el momento en que la crítica te sube al cielo y después te deja caer, pero los que siempre están a tu lado son los que cuentan. La medalla de oro y todos los éxitos que pueda tener van para mis familiares ... " (Read more HERE ). For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Image from culturizando.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Cantinflas (Mario Moreno)! (1911-1993) An iconic figure who Charlie Chaplin once called the best comedian alive, Cantinflas was a Mexican comic film actor, producer, and scriptwriter. He had a reputation as a spokesperson for the downtrodden and used his skill with words to "puncture the pretensions of the wealthy and powerful." His comic use of language in films included beginning a conversation with someone and then complicating it so that no one understood what they were talking about (see this clip of him explaining democracia to a government official). In 1992 the Academia Real included the verb "cantinflear" in its dictionary to describe this action. It's common for Spanish speakers to say ¡Estás cantinfleando! when someone becomes difficult to understand in a conversation. In 1957, Cantinflas won a Golden Globe for his performance in Around the World in 80 Days , and he also has a ...

Photo from wikipedia.  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Pedro Sandoval! (1986-         ) A professional baseball player from Venezuela who first signed with the San Francisco Giants in 2002 and then debuted with them in 2008 after working his way through the minor leagues, Sandoval is a two-time All Star who has won three World Series with the Giants. In Game 1 of the 2012 series, he hit three home runs (he would go on to win MVP of the series). He has also played for the Boston Red Sox. Sandoval grew up in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela with his parents and older brother Michael, who also played professional baseball. Though born left-handed, he taught himself to throw righty so that he could play shortstop like his favorite player, Omar Vizquel. In the offseason, like many other Venezuelan players, he plays for the Navegantes del Magallanes . Sandoval has one daughter, Yoleadny, born in 2009. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from librosyletras.com. Click HERE .   ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Carlos Castro Saavedra! (1924-1989) A Colombian poet from Medellín, and a friend of Chilean Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda, Castro Saavedra is known as the "poet of peace." He published his first book of poetry, Fúsiles y luceros , in 1946. Soon after, he published 33 Poemas, Mi llanto , and Manolete . In 1951 he won the Berlin International Festival of Peace Premio de Poesía. While there, he shared his poem Plegaria desde América , in which he expresses his hope for peace, saying that he wants all to have: fuerza para creer en el futuro y para perdonar, mucha más fuerza,  paz hasta que se arruguen los cuchillos y hasta que caiga el odio paz, y paz,  paz en el alma, paz en la mirada,  y paz mil veces, y mil veces paz. Threatened by the far right then ruling Colombia, Castro Saavedra went into exile in Chile in 1953 along with many other Colombian intellectuals. It was there that...

Photo from fifa.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a Jenny Ruiz (Jennifer Marie Ruiz-Williams)! (1983-      ) A Mexican-American soccer player who played for the Seattle Reign FC and represented Mexico in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Ruiz was born in Anaheim, California and attended Corona High School, where she was a 3 time All-League MVP. She then attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas from 2001-2004, where she earned many honors for her soccer performance, including being named to the First Team All Mountain West Conference her senior year. She taught in inner-city Los Angeles for two years with Teach For America following graduation. Ruiz and husband Kevin Williams have two children. Her second child was born in Brazil, where she and her husband were working as Christian missionaries. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from laprens.hn. Click HERE .  Feliz cumpleaños a ... Aldo Calderón Van Dyke (1968-July 15 2013) A Honduran journalist and news anchor who worked for La Prensa and Diario Tiempo, he also was active in raising money for various charitable causes. Since 2001, he was the anchor of the evening newscast of Canal 11. He was appointed Secretariat of National National Resources and the Environment during the government of Manuel Zelaya. Click HERE for Canal 11's video tribute to him after his death in 2013. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from wikipedia.  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Alberto Salazar! (1958-      ) A Cuban-American track coach and former world-class distance runner, Salazar is perhaps best known for winning the New York City Marathon for three consecutive years (1980, 1981, and 1982) and the Boston Marathon, called the "Duel in the Sun," in 1982. He also holds several records in the 10,000 meter. Born in Cuba, Salazar immigrated to the United States with his family as a child. His father had been a close friend of Fidel Castro and a fellow revolutionary, but he turned against the government and became a member of the ant-Castro movement before his family's immigration. In the Unite States, Salazar was a stand-out runner at his high school in Connecticut, and he went on to win All American honors at the University of Oregon. He is currently the head coach of the Nike Oregon Project. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Wilmer Flores! (1991-     ) Photo from espn.com. Click HERE .  A professional baseball player from Venezuela, Flores signed with the New York Mets as an international free agent on his 16th  birthday in 2007. He was sent back to Class A in 2011 to be converted from a shortstop to a third baseman, and he moved back up, on his birthday once again, in 2013. He helped the Mets reach the World Series in 2015. Flores has spoken about his worry for his home-country of Venezuela, where his family still lives, and his hope for peace there. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from thisisF1.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Esteban Gutiérrrez! (1991-        ) A Mexican race car driver who drove for Sauber Formula One Team from 2011 to 2014, Gutiérrez was born the second of four children in Monterrey, Nuevo León. He has driven for Ferrari, Formula E, Mercedes, and several other teams. See his official website HERE . For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from skysports.com. Click HERE .  Feliz cumpleaños a... Antonio Valencia (Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera)! (1985-       ) An Ecuadorian professional soccer player who has played for Manchester United in England since June of 2009, Valencia grew up in Lago Agrio, a small town in the Amazon rainforest. He lived in a small house with his five brothers and one sister, and he used to sell drinks with his mother outside the local soccer club. When he was nine years old, he was discovered by a scout and began training with a local sports academy. When he was 16, he left home to play for El Nacional, an 8-hour bus ride away. Only his mother and older brother, who paid for the bus ticket, knew. He won the Ecuadorian Serie A with El Nacional before signing with La Liga's Villarreal (in Spain) in 2005. He was on loan to Wigan Athletic when he caught the attention of Manchester United. Valencia made his debut with Ecuador in 2004 and has played in the 2006 FIFA ...

Photo from Wikipedia.  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Dolores del Río! (1904-1983) A Mexican movie star who was the first "crossover star" in Hollywood, she starred in many American movies in the 1920s and 30s. She then became an important figure in the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema in the 1940s and 50s. Her films Wildflower (1943), María Candelaría (1943), Las Abandonadas (1944), Bugambilia (1944), and The Unloved Woman (1949) are all considered classic masterpieces. Born to parents who were members of the Mexican aristocracy that existed during the Porfiriato, del Río's family lost all its assets during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1921). Her father at one point escaped to the United States while she and her mother escaped to Mexico City. In 1921, del Río met Jaime Martínez del Río y Viñent, whose family had lost nothing during the Revolution. After a two-month courtship, the two married. Del Río was 17 while her husband was 34. They honeymooned for two years in Europe....

Photo from isabelallende.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Isabel Allende! (1942-      ) I can promise you that women working together - linked, informed and educated - can bring peace and prosperity to this forsaken planet. -Isabel Allende A Chilean writer whose 23 books have been translated into 35 languages and have sold more than 70 million copies, she has won more than 60 awards for her writing in 16 different countries (source: isabelallende.com). Her father's cousin was Salvador Allende, the Chilean president who was assassinated in a CIA backed coup in 1973, and she herself lived in Venezuela in exile for 13 years after the coup. Allende wrote her first novel in 1981 after receiving a phone call that her grandfather was near death. She sat down to write him a letter, and the letter turned into House of Spirits , which was first published in Spain and eventually translated into many different languages. Allende had two children with her first ...

Photo from latinoweeklyreview.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Demián Bichir! (1963- ) A Mexican American actor and director who began his career acting in telenovelas, Bichir has also starred in many movies and television series. He played Fidel Castro in 2008's Che (click here for a Bichir interview with People en español about the role), and he was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in 2011's  A Better Life . Bichir is an ACLU ambassador for immigration rights. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Fernández with his sister in 2013. Photo from Sports Illustrated . Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... José Fernández! (1992-Sept. 25, 2016) A Cuban-born professional baseball pitcher for the Miami Marlins, Fernández defected Cuba in 2008 after three unsuccessful attempts (each followed by a prison term). He saved his mother's life as they defected by jumping in to save her when she fell overboard in turbulent waters. In the United States, he attended high school in Tampa. His team won state championships his sophomore and senior years. He was drafted in 2011 by the Florida Marlins as the 14th overall selection. He was named to the 2013 MLB All-Star Game and won he NL Rookie of the Year Award.  Fernández announced that his girlfriend, Maria Arias, was pregnant on September 20, 2016, five days before his death in a boating accident. Their daughter, Penelope Jo, was born in February of 2017. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.