Alfredo de Zayas y Alfonso, usually known as Alfredo de Zayas under Spanish naming customs and also known as Alfredo Zayas, was a Cuban lawyer, poet and political figure. He served as prosecutor, judge, mayor of Havana, secretary of the Constitutional Convention, senator in 1905, president of the Senate in 1906, Vice President of Cuba from 1909 to 1913 and President of Cuba from May 20, 1921, to May 20, 1925.
Dionisio Jesús Valdés Rodríguez, better known as Chucho, is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger whose career spans over 50 years. An original member of the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, in 1973 he founded the group Irakere, one of Cuba's best-known Latin jazz bands.
Julio Antonio Mella McPartland was a Cuban political activist, journalist, communist revolutionary, and one of the founders of the original Communist Party of Cuba. Mella studied law at the University of Havana but was expelled in 1925. He had worked against the government of Gerardo Machado, which had grown increasingly repressive. Mella left the country, reaching Central America. He traveled north to Mexico City, where he worked with other exiled dissidents and communist sympathizers against the Machado government. He was assassinated in 1929, but historians still disagree on which parties were responsible for his death. The 21st century Cuban government regards Mella as a communist hero and martyr.
Guanabacoa is a colonial township in eastern Havana, Cuba, and one of the 15 municipalities of the city. It is famous for its historical Santería and is home to the first African Cabildo in Havana. Guanabacoa was briefly the capital of Cuba in 1555 after Havana was attacked by French pirate Jacques de Sores. This gave rise to the Cuban saying “Like putting Havana in Guanabacoa,” which is used to describe trying to fit something too large into a space too small. Guanabacoa was the site of the Battle of Guanabacoa, a skirmish between British and Spanish troops as part of the larger Battle of Havana during the Seven Years' War.
José Antonio Fernández de Castro was a Cuban journalist and writer active in the first part of the 20th century. He was a member of the Minorista Group, the Veterans and Patriots Movement, and participated in the Protest of the Thirteen. Every year, Cuba hosts a national journalism competition called the "José Antonio Fernández de Castro Journalism Award."
Eusebio Leal Spengler was a Cuban historian. He served as the municipal historian of Havana, as well as the director of the restoration project of Old Havana. Under his oversight, the historic centre of the capital city became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He also authored books and hosted radio and television programs that recounted the city and its history.
Armando de Armas Romero was a Cuban painter.
Rita Aurelia Fulcida Montaner y Facenda, known as Rita Montaner, was a Cuban singer, pianist and actress. In Cuban parlance, she was a vedette, and was well known in Mexico City, Paris, Miami and New York, where she performed, filmed and recorded on numerous occasions. She was one of Cuba's most popular artists between the late 1920s and 1950s, renowned as Rita de Cuba. Though classically trained as a soprano for zarzuelas, her mark was made as a singer of Afro-Cuban salon songs including "The Peanut Vendor" and "Siboney".
Carlos Enrique Prado is a contemporary Cuban artist recognized for his contributions to the fields of ceramic sculpture and public art. Currently residing in Miami, Florida, Prado is actively engaged in both the creation of his art and the sharing of his expertise as a professor at the University of Miami in Coral Gables. His artistic endeavors span various mediums, including sculpture, ceramics, drawing, digital art, performance, installations, and interventions, showcasing versatility and creativity throughout his career. One of his notable recent achievements is the completion of the Ronald Reagan Equestrian Monument, a major public sculpture commissioned by Miami-Dade County and situated at the Tropical Park in Miami, Florida. In 2023, Carlos was selected as a member of the International Academy of Ceramics (AIC/IAC) based in Geneva, Switzerland. His affiliation with the AIC/IAC not only signifies his international recognition but also underscores his active engagement with the global ceramics community.
Antonia Eiriz Vázquez (1929–1995) was an influential Cuban painter whose work was known for its Expressionist qualities and was exhibited throughout Latin America during her life.
The following is a timeline of the history of Havana, Cuba.
Isabel Margarita Ordetx y Cruz Prieto was a Cuban writer, poet, and feminist activist. She contributed to various publications of her country as a chronicler, including Heraldo de Cuba, La Discusión, El Fígaro, la Bohemia, América, Las Antillas, and Arte. Revista Universal.
The Iglesia de San Francisco de Paula, Havana is part of the ecclesiastical heritage of Havana. It is located at 110 Calle Leonor Pérez on the corner of Calle San Ignacio. It is near the bay on the south side of Havana Vieja."
Plaza de San Francisco de Asís is a public square in the district of Old Havana, Havana, Cuba.
Alfredo Diez Nieto was a Cuban composer, conductor, and professor. He taught composition at Instituto Musical Kohly, the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory, the National Art School, and the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. He founded and conducted the Orquesta Popular de Conciertos. Diez Nieto composed orchestral works including three symphonies and chamber music for various instruments, using and transforming elements from Cuban folk music.
Ana Andrea Cairo Ballester was a Cuban writer, researcher and professor of literature and philology.
Agustín Acosta y Bello (1886–1979) was a Cuban poet, essayist, writer and politician. Acosta is considered by historians to be one of the most important Cuban writers of the twentieth century, and one of the three most important poets in the entire history of Cuba. Acosta was a revolutionary activist, and his poetry reflected his Cuban nationalism. He was both the National Poet of Cuba and also one of its Senators, when the Republic still existed. He won awards for his poetry, but also spent time as a political prisoner for criticizing the Cuban President. He lambasted the hegemonic powers of the United States in the Caribbean, but also went into exile there in the last years of his life.
Conrado Walter Massaguer y Diaz was a Cuban artist, political satirist, and magazine publisher. He is considered a student of the Art Nouveau. He was the first caricaturist in the world to broadcast his art on television. He was first caricaturist to exhibit on Fifth Avenue. He was the first caricaturist in the world to exhibit his caricatures on wood. He, and his brother Oscar, were the first magazine publishers in the world to use photolithographic printing.
Social was a Cuban magazine created by the brothers Conrado Walter Massaguer and Oscar H. Massaguer, and was one of the most important magazines in Cuba in the early half of the twentieth century. Through this magazine, Cuba was introduced to the Art Deco movement. Social was the first magazine in the world to use photolithographic printing.
El Fígaro was a Cuban magazine published in Havana from 1885 to 1929, with irregular publications continuing until 1933. It began as a sports magazine, but evolved into a more general interest consumer magazine and became "the driving force of the Cuban press and of national culture." El Fígaro included sections on theatre, literature, music, and current affairs. Many of Cuba's early revolutionary writers, poets, painters, artists, journalists, and activists contributed to this magazine.
