Enrique Jose Varona was an outstanding figure of the Cuban culture and teaching who died in Havana on November 19th, 1933. He was born in the current city of Camagüey on April 13 th, 1849. He could get his degree as Doctor on Philosophy and Arts at the University of Havana.

Despite his bad health he joined the independence war of Cuba but after feeling ill he had to go back home. His health became worse in 1875, when the strength of the war began to decline. He comes to Havana in 1880, starts delivering lectures about philosophic topics and begins approaching intellectuals associations.  He first joined the Liberal Autonomist Party and in 1884 he is chosen as Representative of the Courts.

 Years after he knew Jose Marti, who described him as a marble flower. Although Marti considered he was mistaken in politics he knew how to go deep into his human nature and asked him to work close to him, bearing in mind he considered him an honest man and a patriot.

When the fight for independence restarts in 1895, Varona contributes to its development supporting Patria newspaper. He first worked as an editor and then, when Marti travels to Cuba he took on the course of this publication. From the newspaper Patria he lashed out at the colonial Spanish regime as well as the Cuban autonomists or not , who acted  together with Spain.

Enrique Jose Varona was also a teacher and wrote a prologue for different books. Varona was considered, by the Cuban university youth as its professor, due to his honorable attitude against Machado dictatorship, in the twenties. Without a doubt Varona was the most significant figure of the Cuban cultural life at the end of the 19th century and the first third of the 20th century.

He was a polyglot, a writer, a journalist, a philosopher and a teacher. He once said about his life: “I was a simple citizen devoted to the grounds of the Cuban culture, which was the way I could help our homeland survive in peace and increase its level”.

He also stated: “Respect your ideas, do not prostitute them, and do not betray yourself.

Havana

The old village of San Cristóbal de La Habana had its third and final settlement near the bay entrance in the year 1519. It has a current surface of 272 square kilometers and a population of more than two million inhabitants.

The province of Havana is divided into 15 municipalities and 105 popular boards. As the capital city of our country it is the seat of the Communist Party of Cuba and other political, mass and social organizations. Likewise the leadership of the state and the government, ministries and other central organizations as well as outstanding cultural facilities related to health and sports.

José Marti

He is considered the Apostle of the Cuban independence and the National Hero. He was born in Havana on January 28th, 1853. H e was a poet, a journalist, a writer, a professor, a translator, a council in Latin American countries and an orator. He organized the restart of the war in Cuba in 1895. He died in Dos Rios, a place located in the former province of Oriente on May 19, 1895.

Newspaper Patria

It was founded by Jose Marti and was the representative of the Cuban emigration. It was also an effective way of intensifying the revolutionary propaganda campaign supporting the fight for the independence of Cuba and contribute to the independence of Puerto Rico.

There was one of his articles in the first journal titled “Our ideas” in which he detailed the objectives of the publication and emphasizes: “This newspaper is born to join and love and to live in the passion of the truth”