User:3D Gaius/sandbox/Enrique Pupo-Walker

Enrique Pupo-Walker (February 3, 1933 – September 25, 2023) was a Cuban-American historian of Latin America. He taught at Vanderbilt University from 1969-1999, acting as the Centennial Professor of Spanish and Portuguese from 1986 onwards. He has been described as a master of Latin American literary historiography.

Life and Career
Enrique Pupo-Walker was born in Holguin, Cuba, in 1933. He was the second of three children by Mae Emma Walker, from Athens, Tennessee, and Hector Pupo Reyes, from Holguin, Cuba. Pupo-Walker attended La Universidad de la Habana, Cuba, and received his undergraduate degree in 1954. He arrived in America in 1955 to study medicine at Duke university. He did not pursue medicine as a career, instead completing a master's degree at Vanderbilt in 1962, and a doctorate in romance languages from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1966.

He taught at Yale University before moving to Vanderbilt in 1969. In this period, he ran the Vanderbilt-in-Spain program for three years before being appointed Director of the Center for Latin American and Iberian Studies at Vanderbilt in 1981. He became a Guggenheim Fellow in 1984 and was a visiting professor at La Universidad de Salamanca in Spain, Indiana University in Bloomington, and the University of Oxford in England. In 1933, he was appointed to the Committee on Cultural Relations between Spain and the United States; he also acted as resident scholar at the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio, Italy.

Historical Work
During his time at Vanderbilt, Pupo-Walker wrote and edited numerous articles on the history and literature of Latin America. Two of his notable works are the three volume Cambridge History of Latin America and a definitive critical edition of Cabeza de Vaca's Naufragios (Castaways). The Cambridge History outlines the literary history of Latin America in 46 essays from colonial Spanish America (Volume 1) to twentieth-century Spanish America (Volume 2) and Brazilian literary history (Volume 3). It covers subjects ranging from gaucho literature, 18th century poetry and theatre, colonial texts, chicano literature, women writers, indigenous traditions, modernismo, autobiography, and historiography.

As noted by the editors and several reviewers, it was "the first [history] to recognize the richness and diversity of Latin American literature in the nineteenth century..." and "the first . . . to provide detailed coverage of the colonial period, the works of women writers, and literature written in Spanish by Chicano and other Hispanic authors in various regions of North America." Luiz Valente notes that the third volume of this series made "a decisive and long-overdue break" with the previous neglect of Brazilian literary history, and offered the "most complete account of Brazilian letters currently available in English." It has been described as a postmodern literary history of 'daring innovation', a 'landmark work', an essential reference work for students and researchers,  and a book which 'occupies a prime place in world literature.' It has also been criticised for its emphasis on North American contributors, skewing its perspective and giving the United States a 'cultural supremacy.'

Pupo-Walker's edition of Naufragios was based on his earlier critical edition of Cabeza de Vaca's Relación, 1992 and was produced with assistance from a Guggenheim fellowship. The edition included biographical information on Cabeza de Vaca; an outline of his journey in 1540, and an extensive appendix identifying the Native American nations mentioned in the narrative. In review, the Spanish edition is described as 'indispensible for advanced students of the Naufragios ' and one which will become the new defnitive work. Pupo-Walker's editorial comments also received some negative feedback for their incorporation of contemporary definitions of historical truth; omitting recent 'ethnohistorical works'; and the lack of detail in the English version for readers unfamiliar with Spanish.

Other notable work by Pupo-Walker includes El Cuento Hispanimericano Ante La Crítica, Vacion literatia pensamiento historico, and El Cuento Hispanoamericano.

Personal Life
Pupo-Walker was married to Bettye Pupo-Walker (née Holland) for 63 years. Bettye Pupo-Walker, born in Springfield Tennessee, 1938, was a practicing nurse for 25 years and met Enrique whilst he was a graduate student. They married in 1960 at Benton Chapel on the Vanderbilt University campus. Bettye Pupo-Walker predeceased her husband, passing away in 2022.

Together, they are survived by their three daughters, Yolanda Pupo-Thompson, a partner of London Literary Scouting; Gini Pupo-Walker, Executive Director of the Education Trust, Tennessee ; and Elizabeth Pupo-Walker, an Afro-Cuban percussionist based in New York. He is also survived by five grandchildren: Elías Wright-Pupo, Sara Wright-Pupo, Elizabeth Thompson, Alexander Thompson and Maya Pupo-Reyes.

In addition to his academic work, Pupo-Walker was also a successful artist. His work, comprising watercolors, oils, and drawings, is held in over 50 private collections across the United States, Latin America, Spain, and the United Kingdom. He also held numerous public exhibitions of his artwork.