José Marti

[Droes lee]

does anyone know more about him? i know that he was a great Cuban thinker and politican and that he died in 1895 in one of the first battles against the spanish qontistadors or something like that but i've heard that if you wanna studie the cuban historie that you have to begin with the biografie of José Marti

mi onda es la de david !

[Droes lee]

sorry for the dubbel post ...

[Fidelbrand]

me neither.. but i got this for u ..

(1853-1895) -------Jose Marti

One of the greatest writers of Spanish America, José Martí is revered not only as the father of modernist poetry, but also of the Cuban independence movement. His political activism fueled his writing, motivating him to produce poetry, political manifestos, speeches, and hundreds of articles and reviews for journals worldwide. He is considered a hero by many for his leadership of the nationalist forces in the Cuban war of independence, which eventually lead to his untimely death. His writings and political activism were based on strong personal beliefs of morality, independence, and patriotism, a combination that both his followers and readers have found compelling for over a hundred years.

José Julián Martí was born on January 28, 1853, in Havana, Cuba. His parents were Spaniards of humble background who had met and married in Cuba. His father, Mariano Martí, had come to the island in the Spanish army three years earlier and eventually found work in the police force. The Martí family often faced economic difficulties, and Martí started working at a young age to help his father provide for his mother and five sisters. His parents felt strongly about educating the boy and sent him to the Anacleto School in Havana. Later he attended the Escuela Superior Municipal de Varones, where he came under the influence of Rafael Mariá de Mendive, a well-known writer and advocate of political independence for Cuba. Noticing young Martí’s talent and political interests Mendive soon became the boy’s mentor.

In 1868 Cuban patriots launched a major revolt against Spain. Martí became a dedicated supporter by writing in the underground newspapers that had sprung up in Havana. One year later, the sixteen-year-old Martí and a friend were arrested for possessing separatist writings, and Martí was sentenced to six years hard labor. After Martí spent six months in prison, his parents were able to have his sentence commuted to exile in Spain.

Shortly after arriving in Spain, Martí enrolled in the Universities of Zaragoza and Madrid, where he studied both philosophy and law. After receiving degrees, Martí made a brief visit to France and then moved to Mexico. The cultural and political environment of the latter was a good match for Martí, and his writing flourished. While in Mexico, he married Carmen Zayas Bazán, the daughter of a wealthy Cuban exile.When Porfirio Díaz came to power, however, Martí chose to leave the country. Returning to Cuba briefly in 1877, Martí could not find work without being identified and he left again.

This time Martí chose to settle in Guatemala, where he taught literature, history and philosophy at the Central school. This was a productive period in the revolutionary’s life until the political environment in the country began to change. Martí was forced to leave Guatemala in 1879.

When the Ten Years' War between Spain and Cuba ended in 1878, Martí decided to return to Havana. Working in a law office, he continued his political activities and writings against the Spanish rule. This led to his second exile from Cuba. After a brief period in Europe, he moved to New York, where he spent most of the last fifteen years of his life.

Martí despised the busy industrial environment of the city, yet he wrote some of his best poetry and prose during this time. During this very productive period in the writer’s life, he actively wrote poems and essays for Latin American reviews, journals, and modernist magazines. His main source of income, however, was to come from his positions on the newspapers, The Sun and La Nación. During the years he lived in the U.S., Martí wrote essays for Latin American newspapers, composed the poetry for which he is best known, Versos Sencillos, and translated Ramona, a novel by Helen Hunt Jackson.

Exiled from his country, Martí was already making plans for a political and military revolt against Cuba's Spanish rulers. He actively organized patriotic clubs in New York and all along the Eastern coast, but especially among the tobacco workers of Ybor City, West Tampa, and Key West. Martí drew crowds with his inspired and passionate revolutionary speeches. He drafted the general principles for the Revolutionary Party of Cuba after three days of speeches in a political rally in Ybor City. The statues were approved and party was founded in 1892. With the successful formation of Cuban exile groups, Martí continued to raise money and gain political support to organize an invasion of Cuba.

At the end of January 1895, Martí gave the order authorizing revolution in Cuba. From the Dominican Republic and the United States, exile groups mobilized to invade Cuba. On February 24, in the village of Baire, Cubans exile forces united with the revolutionaries, and the Cuban War was underway. Martí wrote a letter to the New York Herald announcing to the world the goals of the War for Independence. On April 16, Martí was officially made Major General by the liberating Army but was ordered by the military generals to stay with the rear guard during fighting.

Tragically, the revolutionary writer was true to his beliefs and on May 19, 1895 he rode into the front of the battle of Dos Ríos and was shot and killed by the Spaniards. His body was mutilated by the Spanish forces and was finally buried in Santiago de Cuba on May 27. Martí’s activities resulted in the establishment of a provisional government under a new constitution for a free and democratic Cuba. 150 years after his birth, the life and writings of this revolutionary poet continue to inspire followers worldwide.

source: http://cyber.acomp.usf.edu/~lacs/Marti_Biography.htm

cheers~~ :ph34r:

[Droes lee]

that's the stuff I need thanx

[Felicia]

Originally posted by Droes [email protected] 20 2003, 04:55 PM
sorry for the dubbel post ...
No problem, I tool care of it :)

I believe that Jose was a poet aswell :)