Luis Llorens Torres (May 14, 1876 – June 16, 1944), was a Puerto Rican poet, playwright, and politician. He was an advocate for the independence of Puerto Rico. Early years Llorens Torres was born in Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico. His parents, Luis Aurelio del Carmen Llorens and Marcelina Soledad de Torres, were the wealthy owners of a coffee plantation. In Collores (a barrio of Juana Diaz), Llorens Torres was always in contact with nature, which accounts for the love that he felt for nature and country. He always stated that he was proud to come from Collores barrio. His poem made the barrio one of the most well-known of the island of Puerto Rico. His Catalan grandfather, Josep de Llorens i Robles, immigrated from Figueres, province of Girona, Spain. Llorens Torres went to school in Mayagüez and Maricao. He went to Spain after he finished his secondary studies on the island and studied at the University of Barcelona where he began his studies. He then proceeded to study Philosophy and Letters at the University of Granada where he obtained both a Doctorate degree and a law degree. In Spain he published his first book of poetic verses "Al Pie de la Alhambra", which was dedicated to the woman who would eventually become his wife, Carmen Rivero. Political career Llorens Torres returned to Puerto Rico in 1901, married, and moved to Ponce where he established his own law firm (Nemesio Canales later joined his firm) and collaborated with the newspaper Lienzos del Solar. During this time he wrote some of his best works. He also met numerous poets like Julia de Burgos. When Llorens Torres returned to Puerto Rico he found a political situation completely different than from the one that he had left. Puerto Rico had been invaded by the United States during the Puerto Rico Campaign of the Spanish–American War in 1898. This motivated Llorens Torres to join the political Union Party of Puerto Rico. The ideal of independence for the island. He transmitted his beliefs to the public through his poem "El Patito Feo" (The Ugly Duckling). He became a member of the Puerto Rican legislature and was named to the Camara of Delegates from 1908 to 1910 representing the municipality of Ponce. On February 8, 1912, together with Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón and Manuel Zeno Gandía, he wrote a manifesto which stated that it was time for Puerto