David Buzzi

Writer born in La Habana, he was in exile and worked at the Radio Tarquí station in Ecuador.

He completed primary and secondary education in his native city. He was exiled for participating in struggles against the regime prevailing in his time in several South American countries. In Ecuador he worked as a producer and director of the Radio Tarquí station.

Upon his return to Cuba, he held the position of director of the Social Security Department of the Ministry of Labor (1959 – 1962).

In 1960 he graduated in Social Sciences and Law from the University of La Habana. He traveled through the United States and the Soviet Union.

With his novel Los desnudos he won an honorable mention in the Casa de las Américas Contest in 1966. In the UNEAC Contest of 1967 he won an honorable mention in short story and novel. With La religión de los elefantes, he won the novel prize in the UNEAC Contest of 1968. In 1973 he obtained an honorable mention in the 26 de julio Contest of the FAR. During that time he served in editorial capacities at the magazine Revolución y Cultura.

He contributed to El Mundo, La Gaceta de Cuba, Casa de las Américas and in various publications of the Soviet Union.

Active Bibliography
Los desnudos, 1967
La religión de los elefantes, 1968
Mariana, 1970
Caudillo de difuntos, 1975

Awards
Honorable mention in the Casa de las Américas Contest, 1966
Honorable mention in short story and novel in the UNEAC Contest of 1967
Novel Prize in the UNEAC Contest of 1968
Honorable mention in the 26 de julio Contest of the FAR, 1973

Cuban writer David Buzzi passed away in Hialeah (Miami) last Friday, May 7, 2004, at the age of 70 and due to lung cancer.

Although graduated as a lawyer from the University of La Habana, Buzzi became a prolific writer in the sixties and seventies, and received his first major recognition when his book Los Desnudos won an honorable mention in the Casa de las Américas literary contest. Subsequently, he was awarded the Novel Prize from the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) for his work La Religión de los Elefantes.

Furthermore, he published on the Island his novels Mariana and Caudillo de Difuntos. For many years he served as national literary advisor to Cuba's Ministry of Culture.

He was also an assiduous collaborator of the literary magazines Unión and La Gaceta Literaria, both published in La Habana. His last job in Cuba was as an editor for the magazine Revolución y Cultura.

In the late eighties he began actively participating in the Cuban dissident movement.

Buzzi left Cuba in August 1994 during the exodus of the rafters and after being rescued in the Strait of Florida was taken to the Guantánamo naval base. Four months later, due to health reasons, he was sent to the United States.

He was survived by his children David and Carlos, both residents of the United States, and several of his grandchildren.