Abelardo Morell was born in Havana, Cuba in 1948. In 1962 he immigrated to the United States with his parents. In 1977 he received an undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College and later received an honorary degree. In 1981 he got an MFA from Yale University School Of Arts. He currently resides in Brookline, Massachusetts with his wife, Lisa McElaney, a filmmaker and his children Brady and Laura.