Haydée Santamaría

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In this
Spanish name, the first or paternal surname
is Santamaría and the second or maternal family name is Cuadrado.
Haydée Santamaría
Armando Hart
ChildrenCelia Hart (1963-2008)
Abel Hart Santamaria (1960-2008)
RelativesAbel Santamaría (brother)

Haydée Santamaría Cuadrado (December 30, 1922 – July 28, 1980) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician, regarded as a heroine in post-revolutionary Cuba.

Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba on July 26, 1953, an action for which she was imprisoned along with Melba Hernández. She was a founding member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba[2] and one of the first women to join the PCC. She maintained a high position in its leadership throughout her life. Having participated in the attack on the Moncada Barracks, Haydée Santamaría is among a relatively small group of people who were involved in every phase of the Cuban Revolution
, from its inception to its fruition.

Early life

Haydée Santamaría was born to Spanish immigrants Joaquina Cuadrado and Abel Benigno Santamaría on December 30, 1922, in

Jose Martí
—an important figure of Cuban literature and a national symbol of independence.

After trying to become a nurse and working as a teacher for a short time, Haydée Santamaría was able to leave the trappings of her conservative family behind, joining her brother, Abel Santamaría, in

July 26th Movement, as well as helping to assemble the urban uprising of November 30, 1956 in Santiago de Cuba alongside Frank País and Celia Sánchez.[4]

Revolutionary and post-revolutionary activity

During her imprisonment after the Moncada assault, the guards allegedly brought her the bleeding eye of her brother, Abel Santamaría, and threatened to tear out the other. They also brought her the mangled testicle of her then fiancé, Boris Luis Santa Coloma. Her response was: "If you did that to them and they didn't talk, much less will I." Both Abel and Boris died after the assault of the Moncada Barracks. After her release she helped to found the

Natalia Revuelta and Lidia Castro, building the mythic reputation and de facto leadership of Fidel Castro.[5] On September 4, 1958, Fidel Castro established the Mariana Grajales Platoon, an all-women's battalion for the rebel army, and Fidel Castro's personal security detail.[6] Haydée Santamaría was a member of the Marianas during the war, fighting in the mountains of the Sierra Maestra
.

After the

Silvio Rodriguez was able to start the Nueva Trova "New Song Movement" (Nueva canción
) in post-revolutionary Cuba. In an earlier letter written by Ernesto "Che" Guevara to Haydée Santamaría, he alludes to her cultural achievements and then chooses to recall a specific incident in the mountains of the Sierra Maestra: "I see that you have become a literati with the power of creation, but I will confess that how I most like you is on that day in the New Year, with all your fuses blown and firing cannons on all sides."[4] Her commitment to the cultural development of Cuba allowed her to meet many new and interesting people, but she was to be plagued by the tragic losses of her loved ones to the end of her life.

Personal life and death

Depression ran in her family and it severely affected her to the end of her life. Often she spent days in bed while in depressive episodes. She eventually married

Havana, Cuba. Haydée Santamaría's death followed six months after the death of her close friend Celia Sanchez from lung cancer, and several months after a car accident left her in chronic pain.[3] The events of the Cuban Revolution left an indelible mark on her, causing her to lose many people to whom she had been close and ultimately contributing to the lifelong depression from which she suffered. In a letter published by Casa de las Americas in 1968, she wrote to Che Guevara
after his death: "Fourteen years ago I saw the most intensely beloved human beings die—I think that I have already lived too much. The sun is not as beautiful, I don't feel pleasure in seeing the palm trees. Sometimes, like now, in spite of enjoying life so much, knowing that it is worth opening one's eyes every morning if only for those two things, I have the desire to keep them closed, like you."[4]

References

Reunion of the Cuban Literary Group, Casa de las Americas
  1. ^
    OCLC 53369709.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  2. ^ Castro, Tania Diaz (12 August 2013). "The Suicide of Haydee Santamaria". translatingcuba.com. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d Randall, Margaret. Haydée Santamaría, Cuban Revolutionary: She Led by Transgression. Duke University Press Books, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Maclean, Betsy. Haydée Santamaría. Melbourne: Ocean Press, 2003. Print.
  5. ^ Shayne, Julie D. The Revolution Question: Feminisms in El Salvador, Chile, and Cuba. Rutgers University Press, 2004.
  6. ^ Puebla, Teté, and Mary-Alice Waters. Marianas in Combat: Teté Puebla & the Mariana Grajales Women's Platoon in Cuba's Revolutionary War, 1956-58. New York: Pathfinder, 2003.
  7. ^ Randall, Margret (22 January 2015). "Haydée Santamaría, Cuban Revolutionary: She Led by Transgression". www.margretrandall.org. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  • Maclean, Betsy. Haydée Santamaría. Melbourne: Ocean Press, 2003. Print.
  • Puebla, Teté, and Mary-Alice Waters. Marianas in Combat: Teté Puebla & the Mariana Grajales Women's Platoon in Cuba's Revolutionary War, 1956–58. New York: Pathfinder, 2003.
  • Randall, Margaret. Haydée Santamaría, Cuban Revolutionary: She Led by Transgression. Duke University Press Books, 2015.
  • Shayne, Julie D. The Revolution Question: Feminisms in El Salvador, Chile, and Cuba. Rutgers University Press, 2004.

Further reading

  • Her Revolution, Her Life, by Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt, review of Margaret Randall's book, Haydée Santamaría, Cuban Revolutionary: She Led by Transgression (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2015)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Haydée Santamaría.
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