Inducted in 2019
Scholar; Poet
Professional Baseball Player, Nicaraguan League
Minister of Cultural Affairs, Granada, Nicaragua
Minister of Education, Granada, Nicaragua
Nicaraguan Ambassador to the US
"Pioneer of Nicaraguan Baseball"

David Arellano y Sequeira was born on October 12, 1872 in Granada, Nicaragua.  His father was Faustino Arellano y Cabistán and his mother was Luz Perfecta Sequeira y Arellano.  Both Don Faustino and Doña Luz were devout, spoke several languages, and were from established Granadine families.  The Arellanos were involved in finance, international trade, cocoa farming, and cattle ranching.  Moreover, they were great supporters of the arts and education in their beloved city and passed their love of learning on to David and their other children: Narciso, Germán, Felipe, Elena and Beatriz.

David spent his early years both in the city of Granada and out on his family’s rural farms before heading north to St. John’s College in Fordham, New York in September 1882 to begin his Third Division studies.  In those days, St. John’s — as Fordham Prep and University were originally known — was one of the premiere Catholic boarding schools in the Western hemisphere, and so, it was not unusual for Central and South American boys to arrive for Third Division (middle school), stay on through Second Division (the Prep), and eventually graduate with a degree from the First Division (Fordham College).  David’s brothers also attended St John’s.  Narciso would graduate the Prep in 1889 and Germán would stay through middle school before returning to Nicaragua.

Devout and deeply devoted to Our Lady, David was involved with the spiritual and charitable activities of the Rose Hill Sodalities.  He was an honors student throughout his time at Fordham, winning prizes in English composition, history, geography, religion, foreign language, Greek and Latin, and even exemplary comportment.

The ever-eloquent teenaged Arellano also wrote prolifically (in English, Spanish, and Latin), contributing poems, essays, and articles to the student publications of his day, most notably the Fordham Monthly, and an 1891 collection called Schooldays Rhymes.  In fact, it is on account of his reporting in the Monthly that Arellano will forever be associated with Prep football, as he would chronicle what would be remembered as the very first game of the Turkey Bowl series in December 1887: “The Xaviers came up on Sunday, November 27 and played us a good game. It grew dark before either side scored a single point.”

His literary connections to the Prep gridiron notwithstanding, it was on the baseball diamond that Arellano would leave his mark on Fordham athletics.  He was a pitcher, both on the Prep and College teams, and apparently came close to a career in professional baseball when he threw for Fordham in an exhibition game against the New York Giants as the first Nicaraguan to appear in a major league venue.  Like his fellow Hall of Honor inductee, Esteban Bellán, Class of 1866, David Arellano y Sequeira would earn himself a place in the history of Latin American sport.  By some accounts, with the help of his brothers, Arellano organized the first known game played in their home country on July 24, 1891.  He pitched, of course.  To this day, David Arellano is regarded as them “Pioneer of Nicaraguan Baseball.”

Completing his Second Division, or Prep, years in 1887, Arellano stayed on at Rose Hill to graduate from the College in 1891.  He was the valedictorian. 

After a short time home in Granada, David would head overseas once again — this time to France — where he would earn a law degree before returning to Nicaragua to begin his professional life in 1896 as a high school teacher at the Colegio de Granada.  He was also involved in his family’s various businesses and took on a role in local politics as a member of the Junta de Ornata, or Ministry of Cultural Affairs.

During the first few years of the 20th century, however, Arellano became more and more critical of the corruption and despotic tendencies of the Nicaraguan president.  With his words as his weapons, the former Prep pitcher-poet would stand in opposition to the ruling party — both from the podium and the printing press. 

Arellano el Revolucionario was in and out of prison from late 1908 through early 1910 for his criticism of the ruling party.  And had the burly former baseballer not escaped into hiding, knocking down the agent who had come to arrest him aboard a Granada-bound train on January 21st of that year, he would likely have spent 1910 behind bars as well.   

Finally, after the Revolt of August 21, 1910, David Arellano was free to return to public life.  Under the new administration, Arellano was lauded as a patriot and designated Nicaragua’s extraordinary envoy to Washington, D.C.

While he had always supported and remained close to alma mater through his published letters and articles in the alumni section of the Monthly, his time as a diplomat in America allowed for more frequent visits to his beloved Rose Hill.  At the 1912 Commencement, Fordham granted Hon. David Arellano y Sequeira an honorary law degree. 

After his time as an ambassador, Arellano returned to Nicaragua and intended to retire to his family’s ranch.  His country, however, would call on him again, this time to head up the Ministry of Public Instruction — a perfect fit for the erudite “Doctor Don Arellano” as he was called in that office.  During his two-year tenure in 1918 and 1919, he introduced new standards for pedagogical training, established a medical school at the University of Granada, and saw to the commissioning of Nicaraguan textbooks. 

Returning to private life, David Arellano spent the rest of his days exactly as one would expect — in prayer and contemplation, reading Greek and Latin, writing poems, translating Shakespeare and Tennyson into Spanish, and corresponding with his fellow former Fordhamites.

The Hon. David Arellano y Sequeira died on October 16, 1928, leaving behind a wife, Rafaela Hurtado y Abaunza, a society lady who would carry on his support of the Catholic and cultural institutions that were so important to him.  

All of Nicaragua would mourn his passing, as would a faraway school in the Bronx once known as St. John’s College.