Nicolás Guillén born - July 10, 1902

On this day 1902, Cuban writer and activist Nicolás Guillén was born.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hey, I'm Eves, and Welcome to This Day
in History Class, a show that uncovers history one day
at a time. Today is July tenth, nineteen. The day

(00:25):
was July tenth, nineteen o two. Nicolaus Kien was born
in Comagaya, Cuba, the sixth child of ar Helia Bautista
Irieta and Nicolaus Giena. By the time he died in
nineteen eighty nine, Guienne was a celebrated Afro Cuban poet, writer,
and activist. Both of Gian's parents were of African and

(00:46):
Spanish descent. His father had been a lieutenant that helped
Cuba gain independence from Spain, and when Guian was born,
his father was a journalist. Gien's father supported the Partido
Libertad or Liberal Party of Cuba and created a paper
called La Libertade. Nicolas and his younger brother ran the
printing press after school. In nineteen o nine, Gayan's father

(01:10):
became a senator, but in nineteen seventeen the Cuban government
assassinated Ghaian's father for speaking out against electoral fraud and
destroyed his printing press. Guienne was close to his father,
and the death affected the family greatly. Nicolas and his
brother found work at another liberal paper. Though the family

(01:30):
was struggling financially, he was able to complete his secondary
education while he worked full time. Racial inequality, segregation, and
discrimination against Afro Cubans and people of mixed race were
prevalent and pre revolutionary Cuba. Gienne experienced this discrimination in
racism firsthand, and he wrote about it. By the time

(01:52):
he was seventeen years old, his poetry was published in
a Comagway graphical. In nineteen twenty, he moved to Havanah
to tend law school, but he was only there for
a year. He went back to Comagway and decided to
pursue writing instead. In his work, he explored black social issues, folklore,
and revolution. He began writing for Cuban newspapers and magazines

(02:15):
and founded his own literary magazine. In nineteen he took
a job as Interior minister and returned to Cuba. Around
this time, he began to publish poems in the journal Orto.
The theme of US imperialism popped up a lot in
his poetry and in the Sunday supplement of the Diadio
de la Marina. Guienne published several articles on the treatment

(02:38):
of Black Cubans and racial injustice. In nineteen thirty, Guienne
met American poet Langston Hughes, and the two of them
would become lifelong friends. Qu's love of music influenced Scian
to incorporate into his poetry elements of the Sone, a
musical folk tradition with Spanish and African roots. Guienne soon

(02:58):
wrote eight poems inspired by the Son, and that same
year he released Motivostay Soon, which was his second book
of poems but his first to be published. He had
already written a collection of poems titled Cerebro, but it
wasn't published until nineteen seventy seven. Motivos Days garnered gain
a lot of attention and critical acclaim. The poetry combined

(03:21):
African Creole dialects and language with Spanish poetic traditions, and
it called attention to black culture and life. Though Guienne
had already been criticizing the mistreatment of Black Cubans, he
began to protest racism and imperialism in a way that
uplifted his own heritage and celebrated black life. Throughout the
nineteen thirties, he published more poetry, including the books and

(03:46):
West Indies Limited Poemas. When the Spanish Civil War started
in nineteen thirty seven, he went to Spain to report
on it. Inspired by his time in the war, he
wrote the narrative epic poem Espana Poema and Atro Angus Esparanza.
While in Spain, he also acted as a delegate to
the anti fascist Second International Congress of Writers for the

(04:09):
Defense of Culture. He also joined the Cuban Communist Party
in nineteen forty and nineteen forty eight, respectively. Gianne lost
elections for the mayor of Comagway and senator for the
Cuban Communist Party. Over the next couple of decades, gian
spent a lot of time in Europe and South America,
during which time he continued to write for Cuban journals.

(04:32):
Pincio Bautista Zaldivar was president of Cuba in the nineteen
forties and dictator in the nineteen fifties. Guien, who opposed
his oppressive rule, was arrested several times under the regime.
Bautista barred Gian from returning to Cuba in nineteen fifty
three after his trip to Chile, but he was allowed
to return in nineteen fifty eight. Guienne supported Fidale Castro

(04:55):
and his nineteen fifty nine overthrow Bautista's dictatorship. In nineteen
sixty one, Guienne was appointed president of the Union of
Writers and Artists, a position he served in for twenty
five years. He continued to write and published several more
collections of poetry, touching topics like revolution, social protests, love, nature,

(05:16):
and imperialism. Solis de Domingo, his last collection, came out
in nineteen eighty two. Gian died on July sixteenth, nineteen
eighty nine. Gian is remembered as the national poet of
Cuba and as a writer and activist who reaffirmed black
culture and was a voice of the Cuban Revolution. I'm

(05:37):
Eve Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little more
about history today than you did yesterday. And if you'd
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(06:05):
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