CDMX, Mexico. –One was one of the first diffusers of Marxism, in addition to the son-in-law of Carlos Marx himself, another is at the top of one of the European royal houses. Cubanet presents six brief profiles of important cubans in history although not quite famous.
Inés Mancebo, the Cuban who breastfed Bolívar
The woman from Santiago, who was the wife of Fernando de Miyares (who would later become Governor General of Venezuela) nursed Simón Bolívar when he was born.
Because the Liberator’s mother was convalescing from tuberculosis, Inés, as a family friend, gave Bolívar the first meals.
Although this version has been questioned by some Venezuelans, the Liberator himself recognized it in a letter addressed to Colonel Manuel Antonio Pulido.
“Whatever you do in favor of this lady [Doña Inés Mancebo de Miyares] , corresponds to the gratitude that a heart like mine knows how to keep to the one who fed me as a mother. It was she who lulled me to sleep in my first months. What more recommendation than this for the one she knows how to love and thank like me! ”, She wrote in the letter.
Pedro Santacilia, son-in-law of Benito Juárez
This Cuban writer was born in Santiago de Cuba in 1826 and died in Mexico City in 1910. At the age of 10, he had to leave the island, exiled for his father’s work in the constitutionalist movement. Nine years later, he returned to his native country where he worked as a pedagogue. Along with other intellectuals, he founded the publication “Literary Essays” and was a merit member of the Scientific, Artistic and Literary High School of Havana. At the age of 25, he once again suffered exile for political reasons.
Months later, in 1853, he came to the United States where he met Benito Juárez and became a supporter of his struggles. In Mexico, his second homeland, he lived most of his years. The Cuban married Manuela, Juárez’s eldest daughter, and was his secretary when he was president.
Pedro met José Martí in Mexico in 1875, introduced by Manuel Mercado.
Pablo Lafargue, son-in-law of Carlos Marx
The man from Santiago was a follower of the German thinker when he met Laura, the daughter of Carlos Marx in London. From that encounter arose a relationship that sparked 43 years of marriage and three children.
Pablo and Laura were married in 1868, which led the Cuban to be one of the first nationals to spread Marxist theory, as a member of the family. Despite this, his miscegenation did not entirely please his mother-in-law, who in some writings called him “black” in a derogatory manner.
Another of his disagreements It resulted from the way, in the opinion of Marx, “simplistic” in which the Cuban disseminated his theories and translated “El Capital”.
Pablo and Laura committed suicide together at their home in Paris, where they lived in poor conditions.
Severiano de Heredia, the first black mayor of Paris
Severian, who was born as a free mulatto, was able to enjoy an education and a life of luxury thanks to the fact that he was adopted by a rich Cuban landowner (who is rumored to be his biological father).
At the age of 10, Severiano de Heredia moved to Paris because of his tutor’s commitment to give him the best possible education. The young man immediately stood out in his class because of his intelligence. In 1855 he received the Grand Prix of honor from the prestigious Lycée Louis-Le-Grand in Paris. At that age he begins to write poetry, like his cousin the Cuban poet José María Heredia.
In the 1960s, he joined the Masonic community of the Grand Orient of France and became a leader of the “Pole Star” lodge. That was just the beginning of the rise of his political career.
In 1873, Severiano de Heredia was appointed member of the Municipal Council of Paris representing the Ternes neighborhood. In said Council he rose to occupy the position of president. The Cuban was the first black mayor of the French capital, but racism stopped his career.
Maria Theresa, Duchess of Luxembourg
As in a Disney story, the Cuban met her current husband, the Duke of Luxembourg when they were both studying at the University of Geneva and he appeared to be an “ordinary” person. That is to say, she is alien to the European nobility.
María Teresa, who had emigrated with her family at the triumph of the Revolution and came from wealthy ancestry, was not accepted at the beginning for your partner’s family. They aspired to a European princess and not a young Cuban, who, although she was rich, did not have a noble title. They finally agreed and the couple were married on Valentine’s Day in 1981.
Among the Cubans who have joined the European royal houses by marriage, the one who has reached the highest is María Teresa Batista-Falla, the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. The Cuban returned to her native country for the first time in 2002 with two of her five children.
The father of Colombian journalism
Considered the initiator of journalism in Colombia, Manuel del Socorro Rodríguez de la Victoria was born in Bayamo in 1758. He studied drawing, painting, calligraphy and humanities on his own, standing out as an exemplary disciple.
He arrived in Bogotá on October 18, 1790, and immediately, on the 25th of that month, he was appointed public librarian of the Royal Library of Santafé de Bogotá. Shortly after living there, he founded a gathering, in which, in addition to publicizing his writings, various topics were studied.
From there the idea of founding the Papel Periódico de Santafé de Bogotá was born, with which journalism formally began in Colombia. Manuel died in poverty in a small room that he had set up inside the same library where he worked. A print of him is in the Bogotá Press Room.
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