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Multifaceted artist Lin-Manuel Miranda, known for creating musicals including In the Heights and Hamilton, has captivated fans all over the world with his innovative storytelling and groundbreaking work in musical theater. Miranda has won many accolades throughout his career and just needs an Oscar to achieve EGOT status.
Miranda’s culture is evident in his works, which consist of vibrant music, cultural references, and nods to his personal experiences in his youth. He was born in New York in 1980 and grew up in Inwood, a neighborhood in Manhattan. Miranda’s parents — Luis Miranda Jr. and Luz Towns — both emigrated from Puerto Rico and were influential in their son’s appreciation for music, which started at a young age.
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ancestral background
Genealogist Megan Smolenyak took an interest in Miranda’s background and decided to do her research on the artist’s ancestry. In a post on her blog, Smolenyak described Miranda as a Nuyorican — a New Yorker with Puerto Rican ancestry — but she also found interesting details dating back to the late 1700s.
It turns out that Miranda’s great-great-great-great-great grandparents hailed from Virginia and were an interracial couple at a time when racial tensions were high. “Here’s a white fellow and a formerly enslaved woman and they spend their entire lives trying to outrun slavery,” Smolenyak said. Based on her research, the couple — David Towns and Sophie — endured the hardships and stood by each other until the latter’s death. Down the line, Smolenyak also discovered Miranda’s ancestors married into Mexican families. “This portion of Lin Manuel Miranda’s family was multiracial, multicultural, and multinational. In short, they have a lot in common with his Puerto Rican forebears,” she explained.
In an interview with IndieWire in 2021, Miranda talked about having debates in his high school’s Latino Club over the use of “Latino” and “Hispanic.” He also touched on other variations of the ethnic terms and said, “I’m cool with all of it. I use them interchangeably…”