 Rafael Tufiño Figueroa was born on October 30, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York where he lived with his parents, Gregoria Figueroa and Agustín Tufiño, until he was ten years old.In 1932, he moved to Puerta de Tierra, the neighborhood located just outside Old San Juan, to live with his grandmother.At the age of 12, he began to work in the workshop of Antonio "Tony" Maldonado, where he painted signs and letters.