Cipriano Justino Isidrón Torres

Chanito Isidrón has been proclaimed King of Cuban Punto, a rhythm born in the mountains of Cuba, whom he cultivated in the decades of the 1940s and 1950s of the past century, in the radio fusion of the era, guajira music. He was a recognized Cuban ten-line verse poet, whose décimas were usually humorous and dramatic.

He was born in Calabazar de Sagua, in the former province of Las Villas, right in the center of the country. Son of emigrants from the Canary Islands, Spain. He was baptized by the public as Chanito, but his true name was Cipriano Justino Isidrón Torres.

He began to improvise from the age of eight at country parties (guateques) that were organized among his neighbors; his artistic history began in 1938.

He studied only up to the third grade of primary school. He was forced into agricultural work due to the dire family economic situation.

However, in 1931 he decided to begin traveling, accompanied by his guitar, through the towns of Villa Clara. From then on he became known, for his bearing, of tall and slender figure, always smiling like the elegant poet of Las Villas. His poetic and narrative capacity made him an artist admired by the general public.

His décimas Amores Montaraces made him founder of the novel in décimas for radio in 1938, beginning his era of maximum splendor in that medium.

He composed Arturo y Magdalena (1939), Abnegación (1941) and Diario de una huérfana (1943). He arrived at radio in Santa Clara in 1936, in various programs dedicated to country music. The climax of his popularity was reached in La Habana, where he moved in 1941.

He triumphed in the program "Buscando al príncipe" of Cuban punto and later established himself in the space "Dímelo cantando" of Radio Lavín, later known as Mil Diez. His Cuban punto was also heard on Radio Cadena Azul, in La Habana, the most listened to station in Cuba in that era, contracting him to write guajira novels made and sung in décimas.

Several of his novels remained unpublished, among them:
La huella fatal (1943)
Más allá del amor (1944)
Los trágicos amores de Gloria Rangel, the latter published partially in 1986.

His rebellious spirit stood out in some social protest programs, such as the one broadcast by Radio Mambí, El Guateque de Apolonio of CMQ and the famous Como piensan los cubanos. Critics agree that the poet stood out for the aggressive humor he imprinted on his verses. The last thing the poet wrote was the saga of the legendary hero Manuel García, King of the Fields of Cuba (1985), a poetic biography of the social outlaw son of islanders who fought for Cuba's independence.

In 1962 he retired, but remained linked to country genre programs, such as Palmas y Cañas, one of the oldest programs on Cuban television, with several decades on the air.

In 2003, the Chanito Isidrón Prize for Novel in Décimas was created, in tribute to him, by the Taller Carlos Loveira for the Creation of the Novel, sponsored by the Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba.

He died on February 23, 1987, in Cuba.

Tribute
In his honor, the Chanito Isidrón Prize for Novel in Décimas was created in 2003, by the Taller Carlos Loveira for the Creation of the Novel, sponsored by the Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba.