Famous Puerto Ricans: F
Browse by last name.
20 people
Antonio Fas Alzamora
Politician • Attorney Former President of the Puerto Rico Senate.
Ramón Feliciano Encarnación
Mayor of Culebra from 1960 to 1980 and an advocate for the rights of island residents and the municipality’s development.
Claro C. Feliciano Padrón
Historian and former mayor of Culebra remembered for documenting and serving the island municipality.
José "Cheo" Feliciano
Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and virtuoso guitarist whose international career includes the holiday classic Feliz Navidad. Born in Lares, he is one of Puerto Rico's most recognized musicians worldwide.
Jose has been acclaimed by critics throughout the world as "the greatest living guitarist." When he was five, his family emigrated to New York City. Jose learned to play a concertina at age six, using a handful of records as his teacher. Later on, he taught himself to play the guitar. Jose has received over forty gold and platinum records, has won 14 Grammy nominations and six Grammy awards, and has earned countless prestigious awards the world over. Jose has also been given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His most notable songs includes: "Light my Fire," "Que Sera," "Feliz Navidad," "Rain," "Chico and the man," "California Dreamin'," "Destiny," "Affirmation," "Ay cariño," "Ponte a cantar," "Cuando el amor se acaba," and "Porque te tengo que olvidar?," among others.
Felito Félix
Known as "El Cantor de la Montaña," Felito Félix was a beloved Puerto Rican singer whose career spanned several decades. His music celebrated Puerto Rican traditions and made him one of the island's most recognizable performers.
Manuel Fernández Juncos
Born in Tresmonte, Asturias, Spain to Puerto Rican parents. Journalist, poet, educator, and humanitarian who became a major figure in Puerto Rican cultural life and wrote the lyrics adopted for the official version of La Borinqueña.
One of Puerto Rico's best known journalists, poet and humanitarian. Fernandez first wrote for the newspaper "El Progress" (Progress), and later for the "Porvenir" and "El Clamor del Pueblo."
In 1876, Juncos launched the newspaper "El Buscapie", campaigning liberal ideas such as free education for children and adults. The weekly newspaper soon became the most read in the island. In 1887, he founded the "Revista Puertorriquena" (The Puerto Rican Magazine), specializing in the Arts, Sciences and Letters.
Fernandez joined the Autonomist Party and became its secretary. In 1898, when Puerto Rico was granted autonomy from Spain, he was elected Secretary of State. After the end of the Spanish-American War he retires from public life and devotes his time to writing about Puerto Rican traditions and folklore. He published numerous books and essays.
Among his most notable works are: "Tipos y Caracteres" (1882), "De Puerto Rico a Madrid" (1886), "Costumbres y Tradiciones" (1888), "La Ultima Hornada" (1928), "Libro Cuarto de Lectura," and "Canciones Escolares," which he co-wrote with Virgilio Dávila and Braulio Dueño Colón.
In 1952, "La Borinqueña", written by Fernández, became the offical anthem of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
He held the Presidency of the Puerto Rican Literacy Society, directed the Antillian Academy of Language and founded the Puerto Rican Red Cross. He died on August 18, 1928 in San Juan.
Antonio Fernós-Isern
Physician and statesman who served as Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner in Washington and played an important role in the island's mid-20th-century political development.
Luis A. Ferré
Governor of Puerto Rico (1969–1973), founder of the Museo de Arte de Ponce and the New Progressive Party. Deeply shaped the city's cultural landscape.
He was the third democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico (1968-1972). He ran a family cement company and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1952. In 1967, he founded the New Progressive Party; as its candidate he won the governorship in 1968, breaking the Popular Democratic Party's 28-year domination. His re-election campaign in 1972 became a virtual referendum on statehood, which Ferré advocated. Ferré was defeated by Rafael Hernández Colon, who pledge for the continuation of the commonwealth status.
Rosario Ferré
Writer, poet, and essayist born in 1938 in Ponce. In 1960, she completed her studies in English literature at Manhattanville College and later earned a master's degree in Spanish and Latin American literature from the University of Puerto Rico. During the 1970s, she began writing and served as an editor for Zona de Carga y Descarga magazine. She later became a regular contributor to the newspapers El Nuevo Día and The San Juan Star. Her works include Maldito Amor, Papeles de Pandora, La Casa de la Laguna (1996), and Vecindarios Excéntricos (1998). Maldito Amor received the Liberatur Prize in 1992.
José Vicente Ferrer
Actor, director, and producer noted for his Academy Award-winning performance in Cyrano de Bergerac (1950). Born January 8, 1912, in Santurce, Ferrer made his film debut with Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Arc in 1948, for which he received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Active in both theater and film, Ferrer portrayed Iago in a stage production of Othello (1943) and Toulouse-Lautrec in the film Moulin Rouge (1952). He directed the plays Stalag 17 (1951) and The Shrike (1952). His later films include Dune (1984). He died January 26, 1992, in Miami, Florida.
José A. Figueroa Sancha
Former Superintendent of the Puerto Rico Police Department and FBI executive recognized for his distinguished career in law enforcement and public safety.
José Ramón Figueroa
Coffee planter, merchant, and landowner who was one of the co-founders of Villalba. The municipality's main plaza, Plaza de Recreo José Ramón Figueroa, bears his name.
Narciso Figueroa
Musician and composer born October 31, 1906, in Aguadilla. He collected Puerto Rican folk songs and re-orchestrated them for chamber orchestras, helping preserve and promote the island's musical traditions. His recordings were sponsored by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. In 1959, he published Cancionero de Puerto Rico.
Pedro Flores
One of Puerto Rico's greatest composers, Pedro Flores wrote hundreds of boleros and popular songs, including classics such as Obsesión, Amor Perdido, and Esperanza Inútil. His music became internationally recognized throughout Latin America.
Priscila Flores
Traditional Puerto Rican singer known as "La Alondra de San Lorenzo" and remembered for her contributions to the municipality's musical heritage.
Ernesto Juan Fonfrías
Attorney, novelist, poet, essayist, and literary leader who became active in Puerto Rico's cultural and intellectual life and served with the island's PEN organization.
Ramón Fortuño Sellés
Poet, essayist, and short story writer who also served as Mayor of San Lorenzo and a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives. His literary work contributed to Puerto Rico's cultural and political life.
Ramón Frade
Painter regarded as one of Puerto Rico's major artists, best known for El Pan Nuestro, an iconic portrayal of the Puerto Rican jíbaro.
Francisco Frías
Community leader remembered among Florida’s notable native figures for contributions to the municipality’s civic life.
Alfonso Fuentes Colón
A composer and professor at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, Alfonso Fuentes Colón is known for classical works performed by musicians from international symphony orchestras. In 2009, he received a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Classical Composition.
