The researcher, university professor, essayist and literary critic Emmanuel Tornés Reyes died this Thursday in Havana, according to the Cuban Book Institute (ICL). He was 78 years old.
The note emphasizes that “his vast intellectual work established him as one of the relevant figures of contemporary Cuban essays and literary criticism.”
Tornés Reyes was born in Manzanillo, Granma, and had a Doctor in Philological Sciences.
He graduated in Education in Spanish from the Enrique José Varona Higher Pedagogical Institute and Hispanic Language and Literatures from the University of Havana, courses that laid “the foundations of a life dedicated to study and teaching.”
His professional career, the ICL notes, was inextricably linked to the Institute of Literature and Linguistics, where he worked as a researcher.
In the same way, he joined the Faculty of Arts and Letters of the University of Havana, in his capacity as Full Professor.
“From those spaces he trained numerous generations of students and specialists, and contributed significantly to the development of literary studies in the country.”
His work as a researcher is reflected in more than thirty essays and articles published in Cuba and abroad, as well as in anthological and study books that he dedicated to both the specialized public and young readers, the note highlights.
Tornés Reyes received distinctions such as the Pinos Nuevos Prize in Essay, the Reason for Being Prize for Research, the Literary Research Prize of the Cuban Academy of Sciences and the Alejo Carpentier Prize 2025, in the Essay genre.
He was a member of the UNEAC, the Athenaeum of Theory and Criticism of the Cuban Book Institute and the Economic Society of Friends of the Country.
His career as an educator was recognized with the distinction of Outstanding Educator of the 20th Century by the Association of Pedagogues of Cuba.
The note does not specify details about his death.
