Salvador José Zapata (1781–1854) was a Spanish Galician pharmacist and philanthropist.

Salvador José Zapata was born on December 24, 1781 in Santa María de Guisamo, Province of A Coruña, Galicia (now Spain).

[2] He emigrated to Cuba at the beginning of the 19th century and started working as an assistant in a pharmacy in Havana.

[2][3] Over time he earned a small fortune and when he died in 1854, in his will he left all his belongings to build schools in the city of Havana for poor and underserved children.

Afro Cuban painter Pastor Argudín Pedroso had attended one of these schools.