Salvador Tió

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Tió and the second or maternal family name is Montes de Oca.

Salvador Tió y Montes de Oca (November 15, 1911 – September 17, 1989) was a Puerto Rican poet, writer, and promoter of Puerto Rican culture, best known for coining the term "Spanglish".

Salvador Tió
Born	November 15, 1911 Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Died	September 17, 1989 San Juan, Puerto Rico
Occupation	Poet

Early life

Salvador Tió y Montes de Oca, better known as Salvador Tió was born on November 15, 1911, in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, to Salvador Tió y Malaret and his wife Teresa Montes de Oca y Branderes. He completed studies in law at Columbia Law School in New York and at the Complutense University of Portugal.

Spanglish

In the late 1940s, Salvador coined the term espanglish, which later evolved to its current form, Spanglish. This was his response to the many Spanish-speaking people who immediately relinquished their mother tongue in order to learn English upon immigrating to non-Hispanic countries.

Later years

Salvador later moved to San Juan, where he died on September 17, 1989. He was buried at Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in San Juan, Puerto Rico.