page_title: Juan Antonio Corretjer
section_title: Early years
hierarchical_section_title: Juan Antonio Corretjer / Early years
caption_attribution_description: English: Juan Antonio Corretjer sculpture monument at lookout in Ciales
context_page_description: Juan Antonio Corretjer was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist and pro-independence political activist opposing United States rule in Puerto Rico.
context_section_description: Corretjer (birth name: Juan Antonio Corretjer Montes) was born in Ciales, Puerto Rico, into a politically active pro-independence family. His parents were Diego Corretjer Hernández and  María Brígida Montes González. His father and uncles were involved in the "Ciales Uprising" of August 13, 1898, against the United States occupation. As a lad, he would often accompany his father and uncles to political rallies.  He received his primary and secondary education in his hometown. In 1920, when he was only 12 years old, Corretjer wrote his first poem "Canto a Ciales" (I sing to Ciales). In 1924, Corretjer published his first booklet of poems.
  Corretjer joined the "Literary Society of José Gautier Benítez", which later would be renamed the "Nationalist Youth", while he was still in elementary school. When he was in 8th grade, he organized a student protest against the United States in his town.  He was expelled from his local high school for organizing a strike to have it renamed for José de Diego. Corretjer was then sent to school in the town of Vega Baja.
caption: Juan Antonio Corretjer monument
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