José Martí Biography

José Julián Martí Pérez, popularly known as José Martí, was a poet, thinker, journalist, philosopher, and politician. He is known as “the father of the Cuban fatherland” because he is credited with the creation of the Cuban Revolutionary Party and the organization of the 1895 War or “Necessary War”. In his role as a writer, he is considered one of the initiators of Modernism. He created an abundant and varied work that goes from the philosophical essays to the novels, going through journalistic chronicles, speeches, stories, letters, books of poetry and some theatrical works.

He was born on January 28, 1853, in Havana, Cuba. His birth was the result of the union between Mariano Martí de Valencia and Leonor Pérez Cabrera. When he was four years old his family moved to Spain. After two years in Spain, the family returned to Havana in 1859.

In 1866, he entered the Secondary School of Havana and the Professional School of Painting and Sculpture of Havana (better known as San Alejandro) with the purpose of joining the Elementary Drawing class. In January 1868, he created the newspaper La Patria Libre with his childhood friend Fermín Valdez Domínguez.

“In the free towns, the right has to be clear. In the towns that own themselves, the right must be popular.” José Martí

On October 21, 1869, he was sent to the National Prison because a squad of the first battalion of volunteers came to search his house and found a letter addressed to Carlos de Castro y Castro

, a friend of Martí who had enlisted to face the independentists with the Spanish army, and whom he accused of apostate in the letter.

On March 4, 1870, he was sentenced to six years in prison. After five months in captivity, he became ill, so he was sent to the farm of a friend of the Captain General (José María Sardá). On January 15, 1871, he was banished to Cádiz. He went to live in an attic in Madrid where he enrolled in the Central University of Madrid and wrote some newspaper articles.

In 1874, he obtained a degree in philosophy and letters at the Royal University of Zaragoza, wrote the drama Adultera and traveled to France, where he met Víctor Hugo. In 1875, he went to Mexico to meet his family. During his trip in Mexico, he worked as a journalist, poet, translator, and chronicler; He also wrote the work Amor con Amor se Paga and met his future wife: Carmen Zayas Bazán.

He moved to Guatemala and worked as director of the Normal School. In addition, he taught foreign literature and history of philosophy. In 1878, he left Guatemala and went to Cuba with his wife. In La Havana, his son José was born.

Between 1880 and 1890, while living in New York, he sent several articles and chronicles to newspapers such as La Opinión Nacional (Caracas, Venezuela), La Nación (Buenos Aires, Argentina), and El Partido Liberal (Mexico).

On January 20, 1881, he moved to Venezuela. While in Caracas he began working in the newspaper La Opinión Nacional and founded the Venezuelan magazine. The publication only counted with a number. Nevertheless, many studies indicate that he started to the modernist literary movement.

In 1882, he initiated the first communications with Máximo Gómez Báez and Antonio Maceo, in order to reorganize the revolutionaries. Two years later, on October 2, 1884, he was able to meet with them for the first time and began an insurrection plan. Shortly after, he left the movement because he did not agree with the methods they used.

On November 30, 1887, José Martí founded and acquired the command of an Executive Commission that was in charge of directing the activities of the revolutionaries. As a result of this work, in 1892, he drafted the bases and statutes of the Cuban Revolutionary Party and, on April 8 of that same year, he was elected to be the party’s delegate.

Between 1893 and 1894, he toured much of the continent looking for the leaders of the ’68 War and connecting them with the new revolutionaries. Once he joined the chiefs and got the necessary resources, he started the Plan Fernandina, whose purpose was to organize a small war. However, the plan never came to fruition as their intentions were discovered and they seized the ships they had managed to execute.

“Freedom costs very expensive, and it is necessary, or resigning to live without it, or decide to buy it for its price.” José Martí

In 1895 and he signed the order of uprising and sent it to Juan Gualberto Gómez. In addition, he programmed the war with the signing of the Montecristi Manifesto. He went to Cuba with Máximo Gómez on April 11, 1895. Four days after his arrival, he was conferred the rank of Major General.

The death of José Martí occurred on May 19, 1895, in the middle of a battle against the Spanish troops in Dos Rios. As we mentioned, although politics was very important to him, it was not his only concern. Also, he devoted much of his time to art, so it is not strange to be considered one of the precursors of modernism.

Between 1880 and 1892, José Martí wrote and published more than four hundred chronicles, many of them on policy issues, but not limited to that topic. Also, it included texts on architecture, education, tips for sleeping with a cap, among others. Additionally, he created and edited a children’s magazine called La Edad de Oro, and wrote several books for children.

He toured the theater three times (with Abdala, Adulteress and Amor con Amor se paga) but it was not very successful. On the contrary, his only novel (Amistad funesta) and his poetic work are the reason why he is considered the initiator of modernism.