2-612-042 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Cirilo Villaverde, Cuban poet, novelist, journalist and freedom fighter (1812 - 1894). Born to a doctor on a sugar plantation, Villaverde witnessed slavery and all of its evils. His novel Cecilia Valdés, published in 1882, is considered one of the most important works of Cuban literature. From 1840 Villaverde participated in the Cuban movement of independence against the Spanish colonial power. He was a secretary to Narciso López, who undertook an attempted insurrection (1850 and 1851) to liberate Cuba from Spain with help from the USA, but failed because of lack of popular support. In 1848 Villaverde was arrested by Spanish soldiers in his own house but the following year successfully arranged his escape and arrived in the USA, where he was active politically in New York and worked as the editor and publisher of few different Cuban exile magazines, including La Verdad and El Independiente. Cigar card from the History of Cuba, Geografico Universal, Propaganda de los Cigarros Susini y La Corona , Tabacalera Cubana.