Enrique Pupo-Walker

Enrique, also known to his family as Abo once he became a grandfather, was born in Holguin, Cuba in 1933. He was the second of three children of Mae Emma Walker of Athens, Tennessee and Hector Pupo Reyes of Holguin, Cuba. He is preceded in death by his wife, Bettye Pupo-Walker (née Holland) of Springfield, TN to whom he was married for 63 years. They married in Nashville in 1960 at Benton Chapel on Vanderbilt University’s campus. He is survived by his daughters Yolanda Pupo-Thompson (Matthew Thompson) of North Berwick, Scotland, Gini Pupo-Walker (Eddie Wright-Ríos) of Nashville, TN, and Elizabeth Pupo-Walker of New York, NY. He is also survived by five grandchildren: Elías Enrique, Sara Elena, Elizabeth Frances, Alexander Hamish and Maya Jane. He was preceded in death by his beloved sister Dolores Freyre, and is survived by his devoted sister-in-law Sandy Heinrich, and many nieces and nephews.

Enrique received a B.A. at La Universidad de la Habana, in Cuba, in 1954, an M.A. from Vanderbilt University in 1962, and a PhD in Romance Languages from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1966. He taught at Yale University and then at Vanderbilt University from 1969-1999, where he was promoted to Centennial Professor of Spanish and Portuguese in 1986. He was also a visiting professor at Oxford University in England, La Universidad de Salamanca in Spain, and at Indiana University in Bloomington.

Enrique’s publications focused primarily on the literature and history of colonial Latin America.

He ran the Vanderbilt-in-Spain program for three years in the 1970s, basing his family in Madrid, where they created very special memories through travel and adventures. He was appointed as the Director of the Center for Latin American and Iberian Studies (CLAIS) at Vanderbilt in 1982, a position he held for eleven years. He was appointed to the Committee on Cultural Relations between Spain and the United States, and was a resident scholar at the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio, Italy in 1993.

Enrique was also a very accomplished artist, and his watercolors, oils and drawings are held in more than 50 private collections in the United States, Latin America, Spain, and Great Britain.

Enrique was a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and colleague. He was an elegant man, known for his wit and intellect, his generosity, his affection, and his ability to make everyone feel welcomed and accepted. He was a loyal friend and colleague, and eschewed any focus on him or his accomplishments. Enrique loved sweets with his morning tea, walks on the beach, painting in his studio, boleros and jazz, the Atlanta Braves and Tar Heel basketball, classic movies-especially Westerns, gallery hopping, growing roses, fresh cut flowers, watching birds, fishing, holidays with his family, spoiling his grandchildren, delicious home cooked meals, conversations with friends, and making people laugh.

The family would like to thank Ángela Córdoba and Gladys Armenteros, and the many devoted nurses and staff at Brookdale Green Hills Cumberland, all of whom took loving care of Enrique and Bettye.

At his request, the family will host a private celebration of his life. Donations can be made in Enrique’s honor to Cheekwood Estate and Gardens, a place that brought joy to he and Bettye, where they were members for many years, and which is blocks from the home where he raised his family. You can make donations in his honor here: https://cheekwood.org/support/individual-giving/tribute-memorial-gifts/

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.marshalldonnellycombs.com for the Pupo-Walker family.