Zurbaran scholar and co-author of the Pelican History of Art volume, Baroque Art and Architecture in Spain and Portugal and Their American Dominions, 1500-1800. Soria was the son of Carlos Schapira, Ph.D., (1879-1957), an engineer (and later Technical Director) at Telefunken, Berlin, and Pola (Heilpern) Schapira (1887-1964). The couple changed their name to "Soria" to avoid the anti-semitism in Germany at the time. The younger Soria attended Zuoz College, Zuoz Switzerland.

Early work on the history of colonial Spain; architectural history of Latin America; created the Institute for aesthetic reserach at the University of Mexico. (Laboratorio de Arte)