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Martí Jose 1853 - 1902 (49)

Liberty is the right of every man to be honest, to think and to speak without hypocrisy.


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José Martí (1853-1895), was a Cuban poet and revolutionary, also a journalist, translator and philosopher, he is considered a national poet and hero of Cuba. Born in Havana, on September 29, 1853, by Spanish parents he started form the age of 15 to publish poems. Because he invited Cubans with his lyrics to rise up against the Spanish colonizers, he was arrested in 1869 and sentenced to six years of prison. With intervention of his parents and because of his young age the sentence was changed to exile, he left for Spain. He studied law there and at the same time he was writing about the situation in Cuba, publishing articles in various European newspapers. In 1875 he went to Mexico and reunited with his family. He stayed for two years during which he wrote poems, made translations and staged his own play in a theater.

He returned to Cuba in 1877 under a false name, but within a month he had to leave, this time found refuge in Guatemala. He worked as a professor of Spanish and married, resigned a year later and returned to Cuba where he found a teaching job. Not for long. He accused by the authorities of conspiring against the Spanish colonialism and again was exiled to Spain. He didn’t stay long, as soon as possible he left for New York. In the United States he wrote many articles in newspapers, also in Latin American newspapers as their correspondent. Additionally he worked as ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. During this period he wrote his most important poems, and in 1892 he founded with other Cuban exiles the abroad Cuban Revolutionary Party. In April 1895, he landed secretly to Cuba to take part in the liberation struggle. He was killed a month later, during the battle of Des Rios, on May 19. The liberation of the country from Spain was achieved seven years later, in 1902.