Santiago-born entrepreneur, writer, and journalist. At only 24 he was honored by the Liceo of Puerto Principe for his Conveniencia de reservar a la mujer ciertos trabajos. He was imprisoned in1876 for revolutionary activities and deported in 1879. At Ceuta in 1895 during the Independence War, 1895-1898, he was jailed for sending arms to the insurgents. His political life led him to be elected alcalde of Santiago de Cuba in 1901, and then senator. By placing his fortune at the disposition of the community, he encouraged the embellishment of his native city and founded a museum bearing his name, as well as an adjacent library and the Municipal Academy of Fine Arts. His publications include Via Crucis, Doña Guiomar, La condesa de Merlín, and Crónica de Santiago de Cuba, 1516 a 1902, and he contributed to the Revista bimestre cubana and El Figaro, and other periodicals. He belonged to the Academia de la Historia de Cuba and the Academia Nacional de Artes y Letras. As an entrepreneur he founded the world-famous Bacardí Distilleries. Juan J. Remos called his “the rare case of a capitalist who not only shared his fortune with his people, but who loved culture above business.”
Thanks to Cuba, Russia is a growing threat to the U.S.
June 27, 2024
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*By Jaime Suchlicki The recent visit to Cuba and the Caribbean by a contingent of Russian naval war vessels and submarines indicates
1 thought on “Emilio Bacardi y Moreau (1844-1922)”
Fernando Ortiz, one of Cuba’s greatest 20th century intellectuals, wrote of Emilio (on his death) that he was “a man of business without being greedy, an idealist without being utopian, generous without being showy, and Cuban, always Cuban.”
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