Jose Marti Biography and List of Works

"No man has any special right because he belongs to any specific race; just by saying the word man, we have already said all the rights."

Cuban poet, essayist and journalist, who became symbol of Cuba's struggle for independence from Spain, and who promoted better understanding among American nations.

Martí was born in Havanna. He studied at the Instituto de Havana (1866-69), and worked on the underground periodicals El Diablo Cojuelo and La Patria Libre. In 1869 Martí was arrested for subversion and sentenced to six years' hard labour. He went into exile to Spain, where he studied at the University of Madrid (1873) and University of Saragosa, receiving degree in law in 1873, and a year later degree in philosophy and letters.

In 1875 Martí moved to Mexico and wrote for Revista Universal. He then taught literature and philosophy at the University of Guatemala and returned to Cuba where he worked in a law office. In 1879 he was again deported to Spain.

Because of his political activities, Martí was unwelcome in many countries. In 1881 he moved to New York City, where he worked as an editor, journalist or foreign correspondent for several magazines, including the New York Sun, El Partido Liberal, La Opinión Nacional, La Nación, La República, El Economista Americano, and La Opinión Pública. Martí also served as consul for Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina, and was a Spanish teacher at Central High School.

I wish to leave the world
By its natural door;
In my tomb of green leaves
They are to carry me to die.
Do not put me in the dark
To die like a traitor;
I am good, and like a good thing
I will die with my face to the sun
(A Morir, 1894)

Except for travels, Martí remained in the U.S. until the year of his death. He published the periodical La patria, which followed events in Cuba, and launched a crusade for independence of his birth country from Spain. In 1894 he founded the Cuban revolutionary Party and tried to lead a company of revolutionaries from the U.S. to Cuba. The plan failed but next year he succeeded in reaching Cuba, and died in a skirmish at Dos Rios on May 19, 1895.

Popular song Guantanamera is based on Marti's poem. His style is still considered a model of Spanish prose. Martí's collected writings in 73 volumes appeared in 1936-53. Main body of Martí's prose was journalistic in nature, targeted for quick publication in newspapers and magazines. In his essays he always reaffirmed his anti-colonialist and antiracists beliefs. During the last fifteen years of his life, Martí sent regular contributions to important Spanish American newspapers and displayed in his essays a new style, which had deep influence on the literary prose of every Spanish-speaking nation.

For further reading: José Martí: Cuban Patriot by Richard B. Gray (1962); Introducción a José Martí by Roberto Fernández Retamar (1978); José Martí: Mentor of the Cuban Nation by John M. Kirk (1983); José Marti: Revolutionary Democrat, ed. by Christopher Abel and Nissa Torrents (1986); Nuevos asedios al modernismo, ed. by Iván A. Schulman (1987); José Martí and the Emigré Colony in Key West by C. Neale Ronning (1990); Relecturas martianas: Narración y nación by Iván A. Schulman (1994) - SEE ALSO Che Guevara - OTHER 19th century writers criticizing colonialism: Herman Melville, Multatuli

ABDALA, (1869)
EPISTOLARIO, (1993)
ENSAYOS Y CRÓNICAS, (1995)