Juan Emilio Viguié

Juan Emilio Viguié
Pioneer in Puerto Rico's film industry He produced and directed the first Puerto Rican film with sound
Born	Juan Emilio Viguié Cajas July 11, 1891 Ponce, Puerto Rico
Died	September 1966 (1966-10) (aged 75) San Juan, Puerto Rico
Occupation	Movie and documentary producer
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Notable works	Romance Tropical
Children	Juan Emilio Viguié, Jr.

Juan Emilio Viguié Cajas (July 11, 1891 – September 1966), was a movie and documentary producer. A pioneer in the film industry of Puerto Rico, he was the first Puerto Rican to produce commercially successful films in the island. In 1934, he produced and directed Romance Tropical, the first Puerto Rican film with sound.

Viguié produced films for Pathé, Fox Film Corporation, Movietone and MGM. He also produced many documentaries for the Puerto Rican and U.S. governments, and private industries.

Viguié's ( birth name: Juan Emilio Viguié Cajas ) parents were headed to Panama where his father, a French national, was to work on the construction of the Panama Canal. The couple had to make an emergency stop in Ponce, Puerto Rico where his mother, a native of Ecuador, gave birth to Viguié. His father continued on his journey, leaving his wife behind. His mother died shortly after giving birth to Viguié and his father died in a construction accident while working on the canal. Viguié was adopted by a municipal judge of Ponce, whose surname was Caballer. Caballer raised Viguié and sent him to the Miguel Pou Academy in Ponce where he studied visual arts and painting under the guidance of Puerto Rican artist Miguel Pou.

Viguié's interest in the motion picture industry came about in 1901, after viewing the first silent film, an Eduardo Hervet presentation, exhibited in Teatro La Perla in Ponce. During a trip to Paris, France, he witnessed Auguste and Louis Lumière's first public motion picture exhibition at the Caf-Les Capucinos. Upon his return to Puerto Rico he found a job as a movie projectionist at the Teatro Habana in his hometown. Viguié was inspired by what he saw and decided that he would like to make movies himself. In 1911, he sent one of his friends to France to purchase a Pathe camera with the money that he had earned.