Cuban Thinkers

José Agustín Caballero (1762-1835)

Francisco Arango y Parreño (1765-1837)

Félix Varela (1788-1853)

Ramón de la Sagra (1792-1871)

José Antonio Saco (1797-1879)

Felipe Poey (1799-1891)

José de la Luz y Caballero (1800-1862)

Domingo del Monte (1804-1853)

Jacobo de la Pezuela (1812-1884)

Pedro José Guiteras (1814-1890)

Rafael María Mendive y Daumy (1821-1886)

Máximo Gómez (1836-1905)

Antonio Maceo (1845-1896)

José Martí (1853-1895)

Enrique Varona (1849-1933)

José Agustín Caballero (1762-1835)

Philosopher, theologian, and priest. José Agustín Caballero was born and lived in Havana throughout his life. He mentored other Cuban intellectuals such as Félix Varela. Some of his works are available at the University of Florida Digital Collections Cuban Thinkers collection. Also, Philosophia Electiva, his main work originally published in 1844 is available here for UF students, faculty, and employees. He also published poetry and about pedagogy and education, and his essays were regularly published in serials publications such as El Liceo and El Observador Habanero.

Francisco Arango y Parreño (1765-1837)

Cuban criollo (born in Cuba of Spanish parents), born in Spain and studied legal studies in the Universidad de La Habana and also in Spain where he finished his doctorate. Arango y Parreño was a slave owner, a “defensor of slaves’ free trade” and very much involved in developing the Cuban sugar industry. He traveled around Europe and was part of many institutional and colonial initiatives of the turn of the nineteenth century in Cuba such as the foundation of the Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País and the Real Consulado de Agricultura y Comercio. 
UFDC is home to a number of publications and speeches by Arango y Parreño. "De la factoría a la colonia" http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00058324/00001 is a speech about Cuba’s plans to become a major sugar producer and other ideas about his ideology. Obras del Excmo. Señor D. Francisco de Arango y Parreño and Obras contain other writings by the author.

De la factoría a la colonia	Obras

Félix Varela (1788-1853)

Catholic priest and framer of Cuban’s independence. Varela was born in Cuba, and he died in San Augustin, Florida, United States. He served the Catholic Church both in Cuba and the United States, and he was a mentor to many that are considered essential figures of Cuba’s intellectual history such as José Antonio Saco and Felipe Poey. His work ranges from writings about slavery, education, patriotism, to theology. His works at UFDC are: 

Cartas a Elpidio sobre la impiedad, la superstición y el fanatismo en sus relaciones con la sociedad 

Miscelánea filosófica escrita por el pbro. don Félix Varela y Morales.

And the four volumes Vida y pensamiento de Félix Varela with different publications and writings by Varela and compiled and collected by the founder of the Oficina del Historiador de La Habana Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring.

​Cartas a Elpidio sobre la impiedad, la superstición y el fanatismo en sus relaciones con la sociedad

Ramón de la Sagra (1792-1871)

Born in Spain, Ramón Dionisio José de la Sagra y Peris traveled around Europe, and the United States, and he studied in A Coruña and Madrid, Spain. He arrived in Havana on the 4th of August of 1823, holding Spain’s official scientific chair of Natural History of Havana. De la Sagra was a naturalist and a politician, with close connection and involvement with the Sociedad Económica de la Habana, an space for intellectuals to discuss and advise the colonial government on matters related to the economy, commerce, and political developments.

De la Sagra also wrote about emerging political ideologies of the nineteenth century such as Socialism and Anarchism. Because of his botanist expertise, de la Sagra made recommendations to the government on agriculture. Another task entrusted to him was the creation of Havana’s botanic garden and the collaboration with Madrid’s botanic garden on seeds descriptions and other research areas.

UFDC is home to 18 authored books by de la Sagra, mostly all about the island’s plants and climate, published in French, Latin, and Spanish:

Discurso leído en la apertura pública de la cátedra de botánica-agrícola (1825)

Historia economico-politica y estadistica de la isla de Cuba ó sea de sus progresos en la poblacion, la agricultura, el comercio y las rentas (1831)

Breve noticia de los primeros meses de mando del exmo. señor D. Miguel Tacón gobernador político y militar de La Habana, y capitán jeneral de la isla de Cuba (1835)

Breve idea de administracion del comercio y de las rentas y gastos de la isla de Cuba durante los anõs de 1826 a 1834; pudiendo servir de apéndice a la historia económico-política y estadística de la misma (1836)

Cinco meses en los Estados-Unidos de la América del Norte desde el 20 de abril al 23 de setiembre de 1835 (1836), also published in French, Cinq mois aux États-Unis de l'Amérique du Nord, depuis le 29 avril jusqu'au 23 septembre 1835 journal de voyage de M. Ramón de la Sagra (1837)

Voyage en Hollande et en Belgique sous le rapport de l'instruction primaire des établissements de bienfaisance et des prisons, dans les deux pays (1839)

Three volumes of Histoire physique et politique de l'île de Cuba (1844)

Estudios coloniales con aplicación a la isla de Cuba I. De los efectos de la supresión en el tráfico negrero (1845)

Notes sur les produits espagnols envoyés à l'exposition de Londres suivies de quelques considérations sur l'état présent et l'avenir de l'industrie espagnole et d'un exposé méthodique des mêmes produits (1851) 

Relación de los trabajos físicos y meteorológicos hechos por Don Andrès Poey tanto en la Habana como en Europa, destinada para servir de introduccion á las futuras tareas del observatorio meteorologico de aquella ciudad

Conclusion de la Historia politica y natural de la isla de Cuba (1858) 

Atlas zoológico comprensivo de las especies figuradas en la Historia natural de la isla de Cuba animales articulados (1864, with Alberto Parreño)

Cuba en 1860 (1862)

Icones plantarum in flora Cubana descriptarum ex historia physica, politica et naturali (1863)

Índices analíticos de los Anales de don Ramón de la Sagra (1970 edition)

Introduction à la philosophie religieuse (1869) 

Historia economico-politica y estadistica de la isla de Cuba (1831)	Cuba en 1860 (1862)

José Antonio Saco (1797-1879)

José Antonio Saco, born in Havana, is considered one of Cuba’s national identity framers. His work was in an array of different fields, from history to law, politics, and anthropology, and he was also a statesman and a prolific essayist. He wrote extensively about slavery and Spain’s long-delayed abolitionism. Saco travelled around Europe where many of his writings were published as well as in the United States.

The University of Florida Digital Collections held digital versions of the following books written by Saco:

La situación política de Cuba y su remedio (1851)

Two volumes with writings of José Antonio Saco in Obras de don José Antonio Saco (1853)

Algunas reformas en la isla de Cuba (1865)

José Antonio Saco y sus ideas cubanas in Colección cubana de libros y documentos inéditos ó raros (1929) 

La vagancia en Cuba Vigencia in Cuadernos de cultura (1946)

Historia de la esclavitud in Biblioteca de clásicos cubanos (2002) Vol I and Vol II

In addition, the Cuban Archives collection is home to 4 of his handwritten correspondence, written during his time in exile in Europe. To read the transcription of one his letters and to read all of them visit the items on UFDC.

Algunas reformas de la Isla de Cuba (1865)	A letter describing the various groups in Spain that support Cuban Independence (1837)	La vagancia en Cuba (1946)

Felipe Poey (1799-1891)

Felipe Poey’s famous work as a zoologist is titled Ictología Cubana, with three volumes that are available here, including an introductory note by Darío Guitart Manday. It contains explanations and illustrations of Cuba’s fish, and through his detailed and innovative descriptions, he became one of the most important scientists and taxonomists of the early nineteenth century. 

Ictiología Cubana

José de la Luz y Caballero (1800-1862)

Cuban scholar brought up and educated in a well-to-do family in Havana. He traveled in the United States first and also around Europe. His legacy is mainly in education, and he followed others like Félix Varela in envisioning a new, not religious-based, education system. The title Biblioteca de clásicos cubanos by Alicia Conde Rodríguez compiles and analyzes his works. De la Luz y Caballero was also a translator and wrote about other topics such as agriculture, philosophy, and about the places and thinkers he visited.

Domingo del Monte (1804-1853)

Domingo del Monte was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, and died in Madrid, Spain, though he spent most of his time in Havana, Cuba, where he studied to become a lawyer. Del Monte was also a historian and essayist, involved in the trans-Atlantic debate about abolitionism of the mid-nineteenth century, and a sponsor of other intellectuals of Cuba’s own Romantic literary era. His networks and social circles included intellectuals and also Cuba’s sugar oligarchy, with whom he debated the place and role of Cuba in evolving political and economic liberalism (See more here and José M. Aguilera Manzano (2009) “The Informal Communication Network Built by Domingo Del Monte from Havana between 1824 and 1845.” Caribbean Studies 37(1).

UFDC is home to some of the writings of Domingo del Monte:

Centón epistolario in Biblioteca de clásicos cubanos (2002)

Humanismo and humanitarianismo in Cuadernos de cultura (1946) 

Centón Epistolario

Jacobo de la Pezuela (1812-1884)

Historian and military general, born in Havana and studied in Valladolid (Spain) and Montpellier (France). De la Pezuela went back to Cuba in his thirties to be part of different army posts but also to become one of the most acclaimed first historians and geographers of Cuba. He wrote several publications that describe and provide statistics about population, the economy, and detailed classifications of cities, towns, and other administrative limitations. He was a member of the Real Academia de la Historia, Spain’s royal--and today’s public--institution for historical research founded in 1738. (See this source). 

De la Pezuela also wrote for newspapers and about slavery, and formed part of the Sociedad Económica de los Amigos del País de La Habana or Real Sociedad Patriótica de La Habana, founded in 1792, where educated men discussed and put proposals forward in relation to social, economic, and political reforms.

Most of de la Pezuela’s authored works are in UFDC:

Ensayo histórico de la isla de Cuba (1842)

Sitio y rendición de la Habana en 1762 fragmento de la historia inédita de la isla de Cuba (1859) 

Four volumes of Diccionario geográfico, estadístico, historico, de la isla de Cuba (1863) 

Necesidades de Cuba (1865)

Historia de la isla de Cuba (1868-1878)

Crónica de las Antillas (1871)

Pedro José Guiteras (1814-1890)

Born in Matanzas, Cuba, Pedro José Guiteras studied in Spain and traveled throughout Europe and the United States at a time when most of Spain’s colonies were becoming independent nations. His three volumes Historia de la isla de Cuba (the first 2 volumes published first in the United States in 1865) though not a manifesto for Cuba’s independence, helped other patriots and Cuban national ideologists to develop the concept of Cuba as an independent nation with its own history (Chapman, 2019, doi:10.2307/2506658).

Access UFDC’s digital copy of the 2005 printed edition of Guiteras’ work here.

Other works by Pedro Guiteras are:

Discurso sobre educación moral i relijiosa en Cuba (1848)

Cuba y su gobierno (1853)

Rafael María Mendive y Daumy (1821-1886)

Poet and lawyer born in Havana to parents of the emergent merchant class. He finished his law degree at the Universidad de La Habana in 1844 and he wrote among colleagues such as José Antonio Saco and was mentor to José Martí. Mendive y Daumy was part of important reform organizations such as the Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País. He wrote in key Cuban serial publications such as Revista de La Habana and Guirnalda Cubana. The indexes to both titles are available here. The Celebrating Cuba! project team is currently working [June 2020] to upload copies of some issues of these publications into UFDC. To learn more about Rafael María Mendive y Daumy, José Martí's Hombres de Cuba has a chapter (pages 48-53) describing the life and work of the Cuban intellectual. 

Máximo Gómez (1836-1905)

Dominican general, well known for his participation in the wars for Independence against Spain at the end of the nineteenth century. Some of his manifestos and writings about the future of Cuba as a nation are available in UFDC. See Ideario cubano. Also in UFDC, José Martí's Hombres de Cuba has a chapter describing the life and work of the Cuban intellectual (pages 80-94). 

Antonio Maceo (1845-1896)

General whose contribution and strategy was deemed to be key in the war for Independence against Spain but also as an inspiration for other armies in the Americas fighting against colonialism. Afro-Cuban himself, Maceo was also central to the abolition of slavery on the island and his attacks to Cuba’s economic foundation, the sugar industry. [Source: https://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/maceo.html, Accessed March 18 2020]

Maceo’s Disciplina y Dignidad in UFDC contains letters that he wrote to different Generals and officials, including Máximo Gómez.

José Martí (1853-1895)

Born in Habana, Cuba 1853 to Spanish, working-class parents, José Julián Martí y Pérez is considered the apostle of Cuba for being the most influential figure in the creation of a Cuban identity apart from Spanish colonial rule. Through his diplomatic, legal, and writing abilities, he was a key organizer of support for Cuba’s independence, a war in which he ultimately lost his life in 1895. His authored monographs cover all genres from prose to poetry and he was most prolific as an essayist, with writings published in multiple newspapers from México, Curaçao, Venezuela, where he lived at the end of the nineteenth century. See more about Martí in the George A. Smathers Libraries funded initiative Cuba, Pearl of the Caribbean.

In 1892 José Martí created Patria in Tampa, Florida, United States, the newspaper of the Partido Revolucionario Cubano (Cuban Revolutionary Party), which he also founded. 43 issues of the newspaper are available on our collection as well as some of his writings that are compiled and contextualized in Antología familiar or Apuntes de viaje.

Martí’s famous poetry publication, Versos Sencillos is featured on the website Cuba, Pearl of the Caribbean. Click here for more works about and from José Martí.

Enrique Varona (1849-1933)

Journalist, poet, and novelist born in Puerto Príncipe, Cuba, in 1849. Enrique José Varona also served as Cuba’s official within Spain’s colonial government and later became a well-known figure of the labor movement in the island. His contributions to journals and newspapers were on a variety of topics, including educational reform, feminism, and syndicalism. Varona’s first manuscript was Odas anacreónticas in 1867, a poetry collection first published in his hometown. Varona also wrote about philosophy and literature in his \[include works when loaded on UFDC]. There are other writings by Enrique Varona and works about him in UFDC:

Páginas cubanas (1936), a series by the Secretaría de Educación [Ministry of Education], contains Varona’s writings about Martí, the war for independence, commentaries about Antonio Maceo, and other texts on Cuban national history.

Not authored by Varona, but with some of his writings or text about him are:

Lectura de Pascuas (1937) contains a letter to Enrique José Varona. The article “El 10 de octubre” by Varona is in Breve Antología del 10 de Octubre (1938)