The Institute of Literature and Linguistics takes the name of José Antonio Portuondo. The Institution is located in the current avenue Salvador Allende, former Carlos III, in Havana. This place was open on July 1st in 1965.

It was Portuondo, the Cuban outstanding researcher who stated all the goals and the basis for its creation taking into account the importance of achieving the development of the research on Cuban Literature within the Latin American    context, and the study of the Spanish norm used in Cuba. Likewise he was the director and the founder of the Institute.

The institution has worked to research and preserve our literary and linguistic heritage and study the process of language and literature in Cuba as expressions of national consciousness. It has different departments such as: Literature, Linguistics, Scientific-Technical Information and Library. After Portuondo´s death the institution was identified with his name as an homage and recognition of his work. 

José Antonio Portuondo

He was born on November 10th in 1911, in Santiago de Cuba. He was an outstanding professor, critic, writer, journalist and historian of the Cuban literature. He had a long and productive life. He wrote the anthology, the preface and notes of Contemporary Cuban Stories published in Mexico  the preface and compilation of  Maceo´s  thinking  and the essay Historical outline on Cuban arts, a work that was translated into several languages . He died on March 18th in 1996, in Havana.