babinteresa

A pioneer in establishing the field of Puerto Rican Studies in the United States, Babín was a native of Ponce, Puerto Rico. She studied at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras, where she developed an interest in the work of Spanish author Federico García Lorca. In the mid-1940s Babín moved to the U.S. and wrote, Introducción a la cultura hispánica (1949), which was used as a textbook on several college and university campuses. Her literary talent is expressed in her Fantasía Boricua: Estampas de mi tierra (1956). In 1962 Babín compiled an anthology of nineteenth century poet, Francisco Gonzalo (Pachín) Marín, whose work championed the cause of Puerto Rican independence. In the late 1960s she joined the faculty of Lehman College of the City University of New York. Among her many awards and recognitions are The Instituto de Literatura Puertorriqueña literary prize in 1954, the Unión de Mujeres Americanas prize in 1962, and the Prize of the Year in literature from the Instituto Puertorriqueño in 1970.