Armando Enrique Hart Dávalos

He was a prominent fighter against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. After 1959 he held different responsibilities in the Cuban government as Minister of Education and Minister of Culture, and also directed the National Office of the Martiano Program.

Hart was born on June 13, 1930 in Havana. He entered the University of Havana in 1947, where he held various responsibilities in the University Student Federation and in the Orthodox Youth. He graduated as a Doctor of Law in 1952. He maintained a firm stance of rejection of the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. He was part of the National Revolutionary Movement led by Rafael García Bárcena, and when this movement was accused of conspiracy in April 1953, he defended it as a lawyer, maintaining before the tribunal the people's right to rebellion. He suffered imprisonment on several occasions.

As a student at the University he joined the Orthodox Youth. When the coup d'état occurred on March 10, 1952, he subscribed, as a member of the Federation of University Students, a public denunciation and actively participated in student agitation in favor of democratic principles.

That same year he graduated as a lawyer. He was part of the National Revolutionary Movement with democratic, patriotic and anti-imperialist projections. He established relationships with young opponents in various provinces and developed strong revolutionary ties with Frank País. He publicly fought against bourgeois opposition parties.

He was a founder of the 26th of July Movement and was part of the Leadership that Fidel Castro left constituted in Cuba before his departure into exile in Mexico. He participated in the uprising of November 30, 1956 in Santiago de Cuba. He worked very close to Frank País in the organization of the 26th of July Movement in the plains and in support of the Sierra Maestra. In 1957 he was detained and sentenced to several years of imprisonment. When he was being taken to court on other charges, he escaped and rejoined the clandestine struggle. He became the National Coordinator of the 26th of July Movement and participated in several meetings in the Sierra Maestra. In 1958 he was arrested and imprisoned until the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista.

In 1957 he was detained and sentenced to several years of imprisonment. When he was being taken to court he managed to escape, rejoining the clandestine struggle. He was appointed National Coordinator of the 26th of July Movement. At the end of 1957 he went up to the Sierra Maestra. In January 1958 he was arrested and imprisoned in the prisons of Oriente and later transferred to Presidio Modelo on the Isle of Pines, where he remained until the overthrow of the dictatorial regime.

After the triumph of January 1st, 1959, he held important political and governmental responsibilities. He was part of the National Leadership of the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations (ORI) and of the United Party of the Socialist Revolution of Cuba, as well as the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba from its constitution in October 1965 until his death. He was Secretary of Organization of the Central Committee, first secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Party in the former province of Oriente, and member of the Political Bureau from 1965 to 1991.

As Minister of Education, the first one appointed by the Revolution, he carried out valuable work, in which his role during the Literacy Campaign stood out. He was appointed in 1976 as minister of the newly founded Ministry of Culture, a responsibility he held for more than 20 years, and he had a significant role in materializing the cultural policy of the Revolution. He was a member of the Council of State from 1976 to 2008 and deputy to the National Assembly of People's Power from its constitution in 1976 until his death.

As Director of the Office of the Martiano Program and President of the Cultural Society "José Martí" from 1997, he devoted himself with dedication to the dissemination of the life and work of Martí in Cuba and abroad. In 2010 he received the "José Martí" Order, the highest decoration awarded by the Republic of Cuba. He was distinguished as Doctor Honoris Causa by numerous Cuban and foreign universities.

His extensive intellectual work occupies a distinguished place among the best of Cuban revolutionary thought. Hart stood out for his simplicity, his permanent defense of unity among revolutionaries and his dedication, until his last breath, to the tasks that the Revolution entrusted to him.

He was the husband of Haydeé Santamaría Cuadrado with whom he had two children, Celia and Abel, who died in 2008 in a car accident in Havana.

Later, until his death, he was united with Dr. Eloisa María Carreras Varona, director of the Chronicles project of the José Martí Cultural Society, who is a scholar of the work of Armando Hart.

Sociocultural Work
His reflections on cultural policy, history and social development are contained in his books, published in several countries:

Publications
1974: Speech in tribute to Miguel Enríquez.
1975: Speech at Dos Ríos.
1978: Intervention at the ninth meeting of culture ministers of socialist countries.
1983: Changing the Rules of the Game; interview by Luis Báez.
1995: Profiles, a collection of texts in which he analyzes the life and work of important personalities in Cuban politics and intellectual life, including those of José Martí and his intrinsic relationship with Bolivarian ideology.
1995: Setting the Ideas in Order.
1995: University Challenges Today.
1995: A Cuban Struggle Against Old and New Demons.
1997: Aldabonazo. Havana: Editorial Letras Cubanas, 1997.
Cultural Work
Changing the Rules of the Game
Culture in Revolution
Cubanness, Culture and Politics
Toward a Cultural Dimension of Development
Culture for Development
The Challenge of the Twenty-First Century
Ethics, Culture and Politics
2003: May 19 (speech commemorating the anniversary of the death of José Martí), transcription. Havana: Islas, 2003.
2004: Aldabonazo: inside the Cuban revolutionary underground, 1952-1958: a participant's account. Edited by Mary-Alice Waters. Macquarie University.
2005: Marx, Engels, and the Human Condition: A Vision from Latin America, edited by Eloísa Carreras Varona and Javier Salado.
2008: José Julián Martí y Pérez: Apostle of Our America, by Armando Hart Dávalos; compiled by Eloísa Carreras Varona.
2009: With the Martian Sling.
2013: For This, written with Dr. Eloísa Carreras Varona. Havana: Casa Editora Abril, 2013.[6]
2014: Chronicles: For This II, with Eloísa Carreras Varona.
In 2008, Dr. Eloísa Carreras Varona (b. 1961) published Armando Hart Dávalos. A Cuban Revolutionary: Notes for a Biographical Sketch, and in 2014: Hart, Passion for Cuba.[7]

Decorations Received
He has received various national and foreign decorations:
- UNESCO Medal for the bicentennial of the birth of the liberator Simón Bolívar.
- Doctor Honoris Causa of Soka Gakkai University (Japan).
- Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Oriente.
- Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Havana.
- Honorary Member of the National Union of Jurists of Cuba.
- Honorary Member of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba.
- Félix Varela Order of First Degree, the highest decoration awarded to Cuban and foreign intellectuals.
- José Martí Order, awarded to Heads of State or Government for great deeds in favor of peace and humanity.
- Raúl Roa García Medal, awarded by the Ministry of Foreign Relations of the Republic of Cuba.
- Haydeé Santamaría Medal.
- Doctor Honoris Causa of Simón Bolívar University, of Barranquilla, Colombia. (April 7, 2011).
- Doctor Honoris Causa in Education by José Martí University of Latin America in Monterrey, Mexico.
- National Prize for Journalism José Martí. Union of Journalists of Cuba.

Hart died on November 26, 2017 as a result of respiratory failure.