Manuel Ascunce Domenech (January 25, 1945 – November 26, 1961) was a Cuban teacher who participated in the Cuban Literacy Campaign of 1961.

Biography

Born in Sagua la Grande to Manuel Ascunce Hernandez and Evelia Domenech Sacerio, Ascunce grew up with his family in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Luyanó Luyanó is a ''consejo popular'' (i.e. "popular council or ward") and a Section of populated place within the municipality of Diez de Octubre, Havana, Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of ...

neighborhood. In the early 1960s, he joined the '' Asociación de Jóvenes Rebeldes'', formed after 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 ...

, later joining as a brigade member for the National Literacy Campaign of Cuba, specifically to the "Conrado Benítez" brigade. In his brief career as a literacy educator, he moved to the mountains to teach night classes, while during the day he helped locals in the fields. He was captured and subsequently murdered in 1961 by a group of Cuban counterrevolutionaries under order of Julio Emilio Carretero Escajadillo while staying at the home of his student Pedro Lantigua Ortega, who also was killed. He was 16 years old. In December of that year, he was commemorated by

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

, along with others who died during the literary campaign. He is buried at the Colon Cemetery in Havana.

Legacy

A monument dedicated to him was erected in Sancti Spiritus. In 1962, the Manuel Ascunce Hospital was named in his honor, and in 1972, Manuel Ascunce Domenech Pedagogal University was named in his honor as well.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Domenech, Manuel Ascunce 1945 births 1961 deaths People from Sagua la Grande Cuban murder victims 20th-century Cuban educators Cuban terrorism victims