# Adelaida del Mármol Ballagas

**Date of birth:** March 10, 1838

**Date of death:** October 16, 1857

She was part of the editorial staff of the Santiago newspaper "Semanario Cubano". Her poems appeared in "Revista de La Habana" and "El Kaleidoscopio". She was featured in several anthologies, including that of José Manuel Carbonell: "Evolución de la cultura cubana". The Annual Adelaida del Mármol Prize has been established in her honor.

She was born in the city of Holguín, and from a very young age she moved to Santiago de Cuba under the protection of her uncle Raymundo Mármol Valdés, who was exiled to the Melgarejo area due to his political activities.

In Santiago, Adelaida formed a friendship with fellow poet Luisa Pérez de Zambrana, with whom she participated in the editorial staff of the Santiago newspaper Semanario Cubano.

Poems of her authorship appeared in different publications of the era, among which are cited, Revista de La Habana, El Kaleidoscopio, La Abeja - newspaper where she was a contributor - as well as in the anthology by José Manuel Carbonell: Evolución de la cultura cubana.

She also published a book of poetry named Ecos de mi arpa, recognized as the work of the poet, where she used the pseudonym Delisa, which appears in the Album poético y fotográfico de escritoras y poetisas cubanas, written in 1868, Cuba poética, Florilegio de escritoras cubanas, by González Curquejo.

To her inseparable friend Luisa Pérez, she dedicated the poem, Al conocer a Luisa Pérez. Her intense work led her to carry out some translations to English, among them, La hija de Jephté, by Byron. Vibrant with youth, she possessed an exquisite sensitivity in her poetry, which conveyed interest in nature; she is also the author of El jazmín de mi ventana, A mi jilguero and Razones, addressing in the latter the theme of discrimination and social inequality of women.

Her friend and fellow poet Luisa Pérez de Zambrana expressed about her: "the beautiful childhood dry on the forehead…is the sign of one who, in warm verses, saw fit to compare that dedication with embroidering a fine shirt or weaving a shawl or mantilla..." In her honor, the Annual Adelaida del Mármol Prize has been established, sponsored by Ediciones Holguín and awarded to an unpublished book of poetry.

When she was barely 19 years old, death surprised Adelaida del Mármol Ballagas, the event occurring on October 16, 1857 in Santiago de Cuba.