Prominent Cubans

Mulatto poet from Camagüey who emphasized the African contribution to Cuban society and is credited with originating Cuban negrismo.  Long before the Revolution of 1959 he protested American domination and social injustice.  After his father, a Partido Liberal senator and newspaper editor, was killed in the Chambelona uprising, he began supporting his family as a printer.  In 1919 his first …

Nicolás Guillén (Nicolás Guillén Batista, 1902-1989) Read More »

Nom de guerre of Nicanor McPortland, a principal leader of the reform movement of the 1920s.  He became a powerful speaker and anti-American agitator at the University of Havana where he founded (and was elected secretary-general of) the Federación Estudiantil Universitaria.  He also established the Universidad Popular José Martí.  Mella shared with his fellow students a desire to …

Julio Antonio Mella (1905-1929) Read More »

Intellectual, historian and political adviser to President Gerardo Machado.  He influenced post-independence Cuba as director of the Escuela Normal de la Habana, as superintendent of schools, and through his writings, generally critical of US policies toward Cuba.  His main books are “Historia de Cuba, La Lección de la escuela primaria, La Patria en la escuela, El Padre Varela, Ecuador, Azúcar y población …

Ramiro Guerra y Sánchez (1880-1970) Read More »

President of Cuba, May 20 – December 24, 1936. Born in Sancti Spíritus, son of future president José Miguel Gómez y Gómez, the younger Gómez was active in politics at an early age.  He served as alcalde of Havana and by the mid-1920s was leader of the Miguelista wing of the Partido Liberal.  A staunch opponent of Machado, …

Miguel Mariano Gómez Arias (1889-1950) Read More »

Journalist and public man.  Born in Matanzas, July 12, he became, at an early age, active in the campaign for independence.  He went to Paris and studied engineering, but, needing an income, became a journalist.  He traveled as a teacher through the French West Indies and Mexico, returning to the editorial offices of La Discusión, before …

Juan Gualberto Gómez (1854-1933) Read More »

Young revolutionary of the Generation of 1930, the founder and leader of the Joven Cuba movement and active in the struggle against the Gerardo Machado dictatorship.  He had considerable influence in the choice of Ramón Grau San Martín as provisional president.  During Grau’s administration, Guiteras was interior minister and responsible for most of the social laws enacted …

Antonio Guiteras Holmes (1906-1935) Read More »

President of Cuba, 1933-1934, 1944-1948.  Born in Pinar del Río, September 13, he dreamed of becoming a physician, although his father, a prosperous tobacco grower, wanted him to continue his business.  Despite family opposition he entered the University of Havana, graduating M.D. in 1908, and then traveled to France, Italy, and Spain to round out …

Ramón Grau San Martín (1887-1969) Read More »

President of Cuba, 1925-1933.  Born in Santa Clara, September 28, he spent his childhood in the family cattle estate, attended private schools and in his early 20s engaged in growing and selling tobacco.  His father fought for the rebels in the Ten Years’ War, becoming a major, and Gerardo joined them in the Independence War …

Gerardo Machado y Morales (1871-1939) Read More »

President of Cuba. 1921-1925.  Born in Havana, he received his law degree from the University of Havana at age 22 and was also a writer and orator.  Like most Cubans of his generation, he shared in the revolutionary activities of the time and was a member of the Partido Liberal Autonomista, contributed propaganda to various newspapers, …

Alfredo Zayas Alfonso (1861-1934) Read More »

Born in Bayamo, Cuba.  A leader in the Ten Years’ War (despite being son-in-law to former Spanish governor Kindelán), who freed his slaves and gave his substantial fortune to the patriot cause.  The rebels’ minister of war and commander in Oriente, he eventually succeeded Cisneros Betancourt as rebel President, dying in New York, where he …

Francisco Vicente Aguilera (1821-1877) Read More »