One of the founders of the second private university in the Dominican Republic, he named it the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña, also writing its anthem.
He was born on August 3, 1922, in Santo Domingo, the son of a Spanish immigrant, José Lebrón Morales (a native of Seville, southern Spain), and a Dominican mother, Rosa Cándida Saviñón Pérez, of Canarian descent.
He received his medical degree at the University of Santo Domingo in 1946, and in 1949 (specializing in pediatrics) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
He is one of the most influential writers from the Poesía Sorprendida (Surprised Poetry) movement, and made important contributions to the Dominican Academy of Medicine, and the Institute Duartiano.
Among numerous recognition he has received are: Commander of the Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella, Caonabo Gold in 1988, Vasconcelos National Prize Award from the Front Affirmation Hispanist of Mexico (1992) and Literature (1999), the highest honor bestowed by the letters in the Dominican Republic, and was the only Dominican chosen to be speaker the Prince of Asturias award, named by Prince Felipe de Borbon y Grecia.