This Cuban writer and patriot is known as the apostle of Cuban independence, the last Spanish colony in America. His death in battle turned him into a martyr and symbol of Cuba’s quest for independence.

José Martí was born on 28^th January 1853 to a modest Spanish family living in Havana, where he grew up and went to school. At the age of 16 he was sentenced to six years in prison for his revolutionary ideas. Due to poor health he received a pardon and was exiled on the island of Pinos before being deported to Spain in 1871.  He published a tract, entitled El presidio politico en Cuba (Political Imprisonment in Cuba), the first of many publications in favour of Cuban independence from Spain, and La República Española ante la Revolución Cubana (The Spanish Republic and the Cuban Revolution).  He completed his education at the University of Zaragoza, where he graduated with a Degree in Law, Philosophy and the Arts. Years later he was exiled to France, before moving to Mexico where he married Carmen Zayas Bazán. In 1877 he travelled to Guatemala, where he taught for a while at the National University.

He returned to Cuba in 1878, but was once again exiled in 1879 due to his constant revolutionary activities. He moved to the USA where he lived from 1881 to 1895 working as a journalist in New York.  In 1892 he founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party and was elected to organise the struggle for independence. That same year he founded his daily newspaper, Patria.

In 1895 on the island of Santo Domingo he drew up the Manifesto of Montecristi, advocating war without hate, and which he signed with General Máximo Gómez Báez, a hero of Cuban independence. The two men travelled to Playitas, in eastern Cuba, where he died a month later, on 19^th May 1895 during a skirmish with Spanish troops in Dos Ríos.

José Martí has been buried no fewer than five times. The first was in a mass grave in the town of Remanganaguas, on the morning of 20^th May. On 23^rd his body was exhumed and reburied on 27^th in a grave in the Cemetery of Santa Ifigenia in Santiago de Cuba, where his body has been moved on three occasions. The third burial was held on 24^th February 1907, when his remains were placed in a small shrine opposite a bust of the National Hero. In September 1947, pending completion of the mausoleum, they were moved to the Retablo de los Héroes – the Heroes monument, until his remains reached their resting place in the magnificent mausoleum on 29^th June 1951 and where they still remain today.

As a writer, Martí was a forerunner of Latin American modernism. His works include a large number of poems, such as “Ismaelillo” (1882), “Versos sencillos” (1891) and “Versos libres” (1892), the novel “Amistad funesta” (1885) and various essays.

He is renowned for his simple, flowing style and vivid personal images. His Complete Works are made up of 73 volumes.

Anyone travelling to Cuba and Havana in particular will soon discover that José Martí is a true national hero whose memory is revered throughout the island. The Cuban people en masse consistently use two affectionate terms to refer to Martí: apostle and master:  Cubans of all ideologies, living both on and off the island, are unanimous in their sentiments towards this major figure.

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