Background
Octavio Romano was born on February 20, 1923 in Mexico City, Mexico. He was raised in Tecate, Mexico and later in National City, California. He was the youngest child of Maria and Manuel Romano.
Octavio Romano was born on February 20, 1923 in Mexico City, Mexico. He was raised in Tecate, Mexico and later in National City, California. He was the youngest child of Maria and Manuel Romano.
Octavio received Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts at University of New Mexico, and then he got Doctor of Philosophy at University of California in Berkeley, California, United States, in 1964.
Founder of Quinto Sol Publications in 1967, he was instrumental in creating cultural organisms through which Chicano thought and artistic production would take its place within the international community.
He joined the faculty of Cal's School of Public Health in 1963, one of a very small handful of Latino professors at UC Berkeley at the time, and taught there until his retirement in 1989.
In 1967, while serving on both the California State Commission on Compensatory Education and the board of the Spanish Speaking People's Institute for Education, Romano, together with Nick C. Vaca, founded El Grito, a journal that was to have far-reaching consequences for Chicano studies.
In 1967 - 1968 he also was a member of California State Advisory Commission on Compensatory Education, and former chair of Spanish Speaking People’s Institute for Education.
Quotes from others about the person
I would call him charmingly irascible," said Hayes-Bautista. "I guess you have to be irascible when you're in an extreme minority position, but he was disarming about it.
Octavio married Olga Romano, and they had two sons: Octaviano and Emiliano Romano.