José A. Escarpanter

Cuban researcher and theater critic José A. Escarpanter passed away on Monday, May 30 in Auburn, Alabama, from kidney failure. He was 78 years old.

"He died very peacefully with his hands in mine. He went from sleep to death," expressed Gina Escarpanter, to whom he had been married for 36 years. "He was an exemplary husband."

Escarpanter was one of the first Cuban intellectuals to be concerned with the direction of theater on the island in exile, a passion he demonstrated in his texts, the courses he taught, and in his constant visits to the Miami International Hispanic Theater Festival.

"He loved Miami, his friends, and good theater. He never missed a festival, where he used to participate in the Educational Component conference," recalled Mario Ernesto Sánchez, director of FITHM. "We will miss his talent, his experience, and his smile."

José Escarpanter left Cuba on October 15, 1970 headed to Spain, where he worked as a professor of Contemporary Spanish Theater and Spanish American Literature at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid for 12 years. During that period he published grammar and spelling workbooks at Editorial Playor. He was also subdirector of the academic exchange program between that institution and Auburn University.

Starting in 1982, the year he settled with his wife in Alabama, Escarpanter taught Spanish in the Department of Foreign Languages at Auburn University, where he achieved the rank of Professor Emeritus. In 1988 he edited and wrote the prologue to Carlos Felipe, teatro, which brought together the complete theater works of the Cuban playwright. He also taught courses in Cuban literature and theater until his retirement in 1991.

"Pepe Escarpanter was an important, conscientious, and kind researcher. I met him many years ago through Francisco Morín and from then on I was captivated by his sincere interest in young talents. He always had a generous word on his lips," expressed actress Teresa María Rojas.

Pedro Monge Rafuls, director of the theater magazine Ollantay, based in New York, said in a statement that "Escarpanter was the first researcher and critic who dealt in an organized and constant way with Cuban theater in exile. His commentaries will be greatly missed, but his works will remain forever."

In 2005 the professor was awarded by the Instituto Cultural René Ariza (ICRA) for his contribution to the enrichment of Cuban theater.

"He was my theater advisor, he knew all my theater, and he was my friend since 1959. A true friend, a brother. We were always very close and his wife also became my sister," expressed Cuban playwright Raúl de Cárdenas in a message from Los Angeles.

José A. Escarpanter was born on January 17, 1933 in La Habana, where he earned his doctorate in Philosophy and Letters in 1957 with the thesis Theater in Cuba in the Twentieth Century.