Luce López-Baralt (born 1944, San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a prominent Puerto Rican scholar and essayist and a professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature at the University of Puerto Rico.

Academic career

Many of her books and articles present for discussion the mystical literature and religious practices of Spain, renaissance and medieval (including al-Andalus), i.e., both Christian and Muslim. She acknowledges the influence of the early 20th century Spanish Arabist, the Rev. Miguel Asín Palacios, among others. In particular, she has followed traces of the trail that show a fruitful interaction between Muslims and Christians in Iberia, e.g., as it affected San Juan de la Cruz and Santa Teresa de Ávila. Evidently, this trail continues on, eventually leading also to the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. She has also done work on the literature of Puerto Rico. Often serving as a visiting professor, she has taught in at various universities in South America, North America, Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. Her works have been translated into French, English, German, Dutch, Arabic, Urdu, and Persian. In November 1998, the University of Puerto Rico held a Congress in honor of Luce López-Baralt and her sister, also an academic, Mercedes López-Baralt (anthropologist, historian, and literary critic). Professor Luce López-Baralt received her Bachelor of Arts in Hispanic Studies from the Universidad de Puerto Rico, her Masters in Romance Literature from New York University, and her Doctorate in Romance Literature from Harvard University. She also did post-doctorate work at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and at the American University of Beirut.

Personal life

In 2014 she was honored by Felipe VI, who made her Commander by Number of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, which grants her the distinction of using the honorary prefix "Her Most Illustrious Lord". The investiture ceremony, presided by the consul-general Tomás Rodríguez-Pantoja Márquez, and was held at Casa de España on October 31.

Selected publications

Books

Other Books:

Articles