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DON
JOSE MARTI (1853-1895)
Cuba's foremost patriot in the struggle
for independence from Spain was the poet
and essayist Jose Julian Marti. His lifelong
dedication to Cuban freedom was spelled
out in essays and poems that circulated
throughout the Latin American countries.
He considered himself a citizen of all
the Americas, and his essays did much
to promote better relations between the
United States and Latin America; but more
importantly, between the Latin American
nations themselves.
Jose
Julian Marti y Perez was born on Jan.
28, 1853, in Havana, where he obtained
his early schooling. As a teenager he
became involved with a revolutionary group
and was sentenced to six months at hard
labor for speaking against the government.
At age 18, he was exiled to Spain, where
he finished his schooling at the University
of Saragosa in 1874. He then fled to Mexico
by way of France.
After
a brief visit to Cuba in 1877, he settled
in Guatemala as a teacher. He returned
to Cuba in 1878 and continued his political
activities. This again led to exile in
Spain in 1879. He did not see Cuba again
until 1895. He left Spain after two months
and lived successively in New York City
and Venezuela. His politics offended the
Venezuelan dictator at the time, who then
forced Marti to return to New York.
A
continuous stream of articles published
in South American newspapers brought him
fame throughout Latin America. In 1892
he became head of the Cuban Revolutionary
party and began planning an invasion of
the island. He and other revolutionaries
arrived in Cuba on April 11, 1895. But
tragically, on May 19, he was killed in
battle at Dos Rios.
Don
Jose Julian Marti will be forever remembered
because he waged war neither with swords
nor guns, but with simple words expressing
the truth.
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