Draft:Pedro Cuperman

Pedro Cuperman (1936 – July 12, 2016) was an Argentine poet, writer, professor, and founder of the Point of Contact (POC) project, an initiative aimed at integrating multicultural and interdisciplinary arts with education. Cuperman spent four decades at Syracuse University, where he contributed significantly to the Spanish program and promoted international cultural exchanges. Despite his long tenure, his legacy remains marked by personal controversy.

Early Life and Education

Pedro Cuperman was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1936 to Jewish parents who had emigrated from Eastern Europe. His upbringing combined religious education in Yeshiva with public schooling, fostering early bilingual proficiency, including mastery of Hebrew. His intellectual environment was shaped by his sister’s influence, which introduced him to classical works in art, philosophy, and literature.

Cuperman initially pursued medical studies but later transitioned to philosophy, earning degrees from the Jose Manuel Estrada Institute and the University of Buenos Aires. At the University of Buenos Aires, he studied under Jorge Luis Borges and became his favoured student. He was awarded a fellowship to study Mahayana Buddhism at Banaras Hindu University in India under T.R.V. Murti. During this period, he interacted with notable figures, including Mexican poet Octavio Paz.

Academic and Literary Career

Cuperman began his academic career in the United States, holding positions at the University of Connecticut and New York University before joining Syracuse University in 1976. He played a key role in enhancing the Spanish program and founded the Point of Contact (POC) project, originally an arts journal that evolved into a broader multidisciplinary platform. POC encompassed a gallery, a poetry series, and educational initiatives. In 1981, The New York Times discussed Cuperman's participation in a traditional asado with friends in New York.

In collaboration with colleagues such as film professor Owen Shapiro, Cuperman advanced interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and creative projects. His scholarly work focused on semiotics, creative methodologies, and the philosophy of art. He also explored themes of identity, philosophy, and literature through his experimental writings and collaborative art projects. Notable works include For as Long as the Night Lasts (2011) and The River Woman (2013).

Controversy

Pedro Cuperman’s career is overshadowed by a controversial and deeply unethical relationship with one of his students, Irene Vilar, who is the granddaughter of Lolita Lebron. Cuperman’s relationship began in 1986 when Vilar was only 16 years old. At the time, Cuperman was 50 and a professor at Syracuse University, where Vilar was a second-year student in his literature class. This relationship not only violated the legal age of consent in New York, which was 17, but also represented a severe breach of the ethical responsibilities inherent in the student-teacher relationship.

Vilar was accepted into and matriculated to Syracuse University as a freshman at age 15, drawn to its reputation for political science. Her transition to university life was fraught with emotional distress; during her first week at the institution, she attempted suicide twice and was subsequently hospitalized for psychiatric care. It was during this period of profound vulnerability that Cuperman, her professor, began to take an inappropriate interest in her. While Vilar was still his student, their relationship turned romantic and sexual, marking a gross exploitation of the power imbalance between them.

After Vilar returned from the hospital, Cuperman encouraged her to channel her experiences into a book, which she worked on under his guidance. However, the mentorship quickly turned into a relationship that crossed professional and legal boundaries. By 1990, the two were married, though their union was deeply troubled and characterized by manipulation and control.

Cuperman imposed strict conditions on their marriage, including forbidding Vilar from having children. He dismissed her desire for motherhood by telling Vilar it was the feminist thing to do and reportedly described families as “nests of suffering,” asserting that children were “incompatible with freedom.” Vilar later revealed that Cuperman deliberately sought relationships with young, impressionable women whom he viewed as “unfinished” and easier to mold.

Over the course of their 11-year marriage, Vilar experienced repeated cycles of pregnancy and abortion, which she has described as emblematic of their dysfunctional dynamic.

Despite the clear ethical and legal concerns surrounding their relationship, Cuperman faced no professional consequences at Syracuse University and continued teaching there.

Memorial

Pedro Roth, a Hungarian visual artist and longtime collaborator from Buenos Aires, created Cuperman’s headstone, marking the close of a career that intersected arts, literature, and academia.

Works

• Cuperman, Pedro (1988). American Baroque. Holly Solomon Gallery. ISBN 9781499491463.
• Cuperman, Pedro & Vilar, Irene (1996). Diario de viaje (Sea Journal). Scholastic Inc. ISBN 9780590937375.
• Cuperman, Pedro (2014). Todo lo que dure la noche. Ediciones Corregidor Saici y E. ISBN 9789500520751.