Ciro Bianchi Ross

Prominent Cuban intellectual. An established journalist, his professional career spanning more than forty years positions him among the principal architects of literary journalism in the country. A chronicler and astute interviewer, he has investigated and written more than most about the history of republican Cuba (1902-1958). He has published, among other outlets, in the magazine Cuba Internacional and the newspaper Juventud Rebelde, of which he is a regular columnist. 

Professional Career

Self-taught in his formation, he became involved in the practice of journalism starting in 1967 at the newspaper El Mundo, directed by Luis Gómez-Wangüemert, where he published his first article.

In 1972 he joined the editorial staff of Cuba Internacional, a magazine in which he has published to date more than 1,700 works in all genres, essentially reporting and interviews.

He maintains regular columns in the magazine Correo de Cuba and on the website of the Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba. His regular space in the Sunday edition of Juventud Rebelde, begun in 2001, has made him one of the most widely read journalists in the country. His texts have been translated into Portuguese and Japanese.

Collaborations Completed

• Regular contributor to the magazines Sol y Son, Prisma, and La Gaceta de Cuba. His articles have also appeared in numerous Cuban and international publications.


• Professor of the subject of Journalistic Genres at the Faculty of Journalism of the Universidad de La Habana between 1988 and 1993, work for which he has received multiple recognitions.

He has dedicated himself to researching the legacy of José Lezama Lima and has been responsible for the editing, selection, forewords, and notes of the following volumes by this author:

• Imagen y posibilidad. Havana: Letras Cubanas, 1981 and 1990.


• Paradiso. Madrid (Spain): Colección Archivos, 1988.


• Diarios. Mexico City: Era, 1994.


• Diarios. Havana: Unión, 2001 and 2009.


• Como las cartas no llegan. Havana: Unión, 2001.


• 2002: El pabellón del vacío. Mexico City: Océano, 2002.


• 2009: Lezama disperso. Havana: Unión, 2009.


• 2010: Así hablaba Lezama Lima. Havana: Colección Sur, 2010.

He also completed the selection, foreword, and notes for:

• 1990: Obra crítica, by José de Armas y Cárdenas (Justo de Lara) (Letras Cubanas, 1990),


• 2003: Palabras sin fronteras, by Jorge Timossi (Havana: Ciencias Sociales, 2003),


• 2006: Entre dos siglos, by Leonardo Padura (IPS, 2006)

He has served as a judge, among other journalistic and literary competitions, for the Casa de las Ameritas Prize 2003 and the Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba Prize 2007, both in the testimonial genre.

He was a war correspondent in Angola and Ethiopia. He has visited as a journalist or writer Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Nicaragua, Bulgaria, Estados Unidos, and Puerto Rico.

Published Books

Among the books this author has published are the following:

• Las palabras de otro, 1983


• Voces de América Latina, 1988


• Un hombre en la noticia, 1990


• Tras los pasos de Hemingway, 1993


• Yo soy el chef, 1996


• Pasaje a La Habana, 1997


• La oreja de Dios, 1998


• Oficio de intruso, 1999


• Así como lo cuento, 2004


• Memoria oculta de La Habana, 2005


• Vida de café, 2008


• Yo tengo la Historia, 2008


• Casa Jorge, Sao Paulo, 1997


• Nasaya, Tokio, 1999


• Así hablaba Lezama Lima (interviews). Colección Sur editores, Havana, 2009


• Contar a Cuba, 2011


• Contar a Cuba, una historia diferente, 2012


• Oficio de contar, Ediciones Extramuros, Havana, 2013


• Oye la historia que contome un día, Editorial José Martí, Havana, 2015


• Palabra de escribidor, Ediciones Extramuros, Havana, 2015


• Itinerario habanero, Colección Sur Editores, 2018


• Momento cubano de Juan Ramón Jiménez, Colección Sur Editores


• García Lorca: Pasaje a La Habana, Colección Sur Editores


• La Habana: ciudad contada, Editorial Arte y Literatura, Havana, 2019
  
  Así como lo cuento. This book was the most requested in the National Library System in the year and emerges from the selection of journalistic works by Bianchi Ross published by the newspaper Juventud Rebelde from the year 2001 in its Sunday edition.

On the occasion of awarding the Puertas de Espejo National Prize, at an event in the theater of the Biblioteca Nacional José Martí, in his acceptance remarks, Ciro expressed:

Eduardo Torres Cuevas, director of the Biblioteca Nacional José Martí, highlighted the role of the library as a reflection of culture in the community, and expressed his satisfaction at presenting on this occasion authors so beloved. In referring to Bianchi Ross, he highlighted this person's capacity to encourage growth and knowledge day by day through communication.

• Distinguished Son of the City of Matanzas (1988)


• Latin American Journalism Prize José Martí (1992)


• Commemorative Medal Juan Gualberto Gómez (1996)


• Prize for Cultural Journalism José Antonio Fernández de Castro for lifetime achievement (1999) (Awarded by the Ministry of Culture)


• Distinction Félix Elmuza (2004),


• Shield of the City of Sancti Spíritus (2008)


• Distinction María Teresa Vera of Guanajay (2009)


• Commemorative Medal for the Centenary of José Lezama Lima (2011)


• Distinction Gitana Tropical (2012), awarded by the Provincial Directorate of Culture of Havana.^[3]


• Puertas de Espejo Prize, in its XII edition, author category, awarded by the National System of Public Libraries to living Cuban authors with the most read and requested books.


• National Prize for Journalism José Martí, for lifetime achievement (2018)


• Distinction "For National Culture" (2020)