Juan Marinello Vidaurreta (2 November 1898 – 27 March 1977) was a Cuban Communist intellectual, writer, poet essayist, lawyer and politician. He was one of the most prominent Cuban intellectual figures of the interwar period and post revolutionary Cuba.

Biography

Marinello was born to a Spanish father and Cuban mother. He went to Spain as a child and studied in Villafranca del Panadés (Catalonia), his father's homeland, until he was sixteen, when the family returned to Cuba. He first studied in the city of Santa Clara. Later, he completed his higher studies at the University of Havana. He graduated with a Doctorate in Civil Law, a Doctorate in Public Law, and in Philosophy and Letters. Later, he returned to Spain with a scholarship to get a doctorate at the Central University of Madrid, in Spain. A close friend of the prominent Cuban intellectual Dr. Jorge Mañach during their youth, in later years they irremediably distanced themselves due to political issues. This happened because, during the 1930s, Marinello was linked to the

Communist Party of Cuba The Communist Party of Cuba (, PCC) is the sole ruling party of Cuba. It was founded on 3 October 1965 as the successor to the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which was in turn made up of the 26th of July Movement and Popu ...

and later joined it, while Mañach, of aristocratic origin, was always anti-communist. Together with

Rubén Martínez Villena Rubén Agnelio Martínez Villena (December 20, 1899 – January 16, 1934) was a Cuban people, Cuban writer, lawyer, and Cuban Revolution, revolutionary leader. He was the ringleader of the Protest of the Thirteen, the first protest of the Cuban in ...

, he founded the magazine ''Venezuela Libre'', at the same time that he began intense political activity, clearly anti-imperialist, which led him into exile on several occasions. He also participated in the founding of the Instituto Hispano Cubano de Cultura (1926) and the '' Revista de Avance'' (1927), the latter year in which he published Liberación, his best book of poems. Exiled in Mexico, Juan Marinello worked as a university professor in addition to collaborating in various publications politically committed to the left. He returned to the island after the fall of the dictatorship of

Gerardo Machado Gerardo Machado y Morales (28 September 1869 – 29 March 1939) was a general of the Cuban War of Independence and President of Cuba from 1925 to 1933. Machado was elected president in 1924 as the leader of the Liberal Party, a moderate reform ...

, although he was soon removed from his chair again for appearing as director of the proletarian newspaper ''La Word'', founded by the Communist Party of Cuba. Back in Mexico, in 1936 and 1937, he wrote controversial articles about the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. Together with

Nicolás Guillén Nicolás Cristóbal Guillén Batista (10 July 1902 – 16 July 1989) was a Cuban poet, journalist and political activist. He is best remembered as the national poet of Cuba.

, Marinello traveled to Spain in 1937 during the Civil War to attend the Congress of Writers for the Defense of Culture in Madrid and Valencia. He returned to Cuba and became a prominent leader of the Popular Socialist Party. The party supported the pro-American government of

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who played a dominant role in Cuban politics from his initial rise to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of t ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and Marinello became a member of Batista's cabinet. After the banning of the PSP, Marinello was arrested on several occasions under the dictatorship of

. After the victory of the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara he was appointed rector of the University of Havana in 1962, and from there he promoted the University Reform policy. He collaborated in different literary publications, both on the island and abroad (Soviet Union, France, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Mexico, United States, among others) and held various positions as representative of his country before

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. He held important positions in the Cuban government and was a member of the Central Committee of the Party until his death, due to natural causes, on 27 March 1977, at the age of 78.

Works

Marinello specialized in the work and journalism of José Martí, he left pages on "the apostle" that are considered definitive: Actualidad de Martí. Master of unity (1942), José Martí, American writer: Martí and Modernism (1961), Eleven Martian essays (1965) or Major Poetry of Martí (1973), among other studies and conferences. Politically committed and anti-imperialist poet, Marinello nevertheless conceived poems of high metaphysical significance. As for his essays, in addition to his Martinian studies, it is worth highlighting Youth and Old Age (1928), Americanism and Literary Cubanism (1932), Spanish Moment (1939), On Cuban Restlessness and Picasso Without Time (1942) or Contemporary (1965).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marinello, Juan 1898 births 1977 deaths 20th-century Cuban poets Cuban essayists 20th-century Cuban lawyers Cuban Marxists Cuban literary critics Cuban revolutionaries Communist Party of Cuba politicians Popular Socialist Party (Cuba) politicians Cuban people of Catalan descent Cuban people of Spanish descent Academic staff of University of Havana University of Havana alumni University of Havana people