Emilia Casanova Rodríguez

Cuban patriot. She fought tirelessly for the independence of Cuba.

Emilia was born in Cárdenas, province of Matanzas. She was the daughter of Don Inocencio Casanova and Doña Petrona Rodríguez, wealthy landowners of that era, and received a refined education and cultural upbringing in her own home.

She married the notable Cuban patriot and writer Cirilo Villaverde, the unforgettable author of "Cecilia Valdés" and many other works that have brought well-deserved glory to his name.

Her husband, committed since the time of Narciso López, had to move abroad, from where he continued working alongside the illustrious Venezuelan, a passionate lover of Cuba's Freedom.

Emilia Casanova was a very active part in everything related to the emancipation of the enslaved Island during this mid-nineteenth-century period when the first steps were taken toward Cuban emancipation.

In her New York home, the meetings of the romantic days of the "Minas de Manicaragua" continued.

She was present and cooperated with great activity in the beautiful creation of the first and, to this day, definitive Lone Star Flag, the National Flag.

She encouraged with her words and her deeds not only her beloved companion, but also the Venezuelan leader, the poet-patriot Miguel Teurbe Tolón, Miguel Angel Hernández, and all those who in that era supported Narciso López Uriola.

In the preparation of the famous expeditions of Cárdenas and Playitas, in the years 1850 and 1851, Emilia Casanova did not rest for a moment and it can be said that through her courage, determination, and physical strength, she was one of the strongest pillars of the daring enterprise.

After the failure of General López's two expeditions, with the illustrious patriot executed on September 1, 1851, Emilia Casanova continued from exile thinking of the freedom of her Homeland.

The year 1868 was ending, the Revolution of Yara had begun powerful and magnificent to last ten years in the Cuban countryside, and although separated by many thousands of miles from her loved ones, Emilia resumed her revolutionary task.

She collected funds for the insurgents in New York and New Orleans, raffled her finest and most valuable jewels, to send the proceeds to Céspedes, to Quesada, to Figueredo, to Aguilera—that is, to the unforgettable men who, illuminated by ideals, initiated the first Cuban war in the East.

She then began her work as a writer, her letters to various people in Charleston, Mexico, Yucatán, El Salvador, Guayaquil, Bolivia, Chile, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Venezuela, Peru, etc., all gathered together could form an extensive volume; her primary objective being to make known the cause of her homeland and to seek support and sympathy in all parts of the world where there was a heart that beat in the name of Freedom.

Her numerous letters to the principal leaders of the 1868 Revolution, especially to Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, shine with the most refined patriotism, are full of the most advanced republican principles, displaying correct diction with vigorous style. In them, moreover, her intimate thoughts are reflected and her most extreme political opinions, the frankness of expression with the impetuous fervor of her feelings as a patriot and as a Cuban.

She did not limit herself to this correspondence, inflamed with patriotism and aware of the abuses committed in Cuba against the mambises and Cuban insurgents, she directed separate letters in the year 1896 to the Captains General Don Domingo Dulce and Caballero de Rodas, charging them with improper conduct as representatives of the Spanish Metropolis.

In the newspaper "América Latina," published in New York, Emilia Casanova de Villaverde wrote from the years 1869 to 1876 in favor of Cuban independence; later sending these newspapers to different places on the Continent where in her campaign she sought sympathizers and collaborators for the Cuban cause.

On March 4, 1897, this Cuban woman ceased to exist, an example of the important role played by women in the struggle for independence and of the positive influence of the freedom movement in the fight to achieve women's rights. As she herself expressed:

"The Cuban Revolution has brought about a moral revolution among us Cuban women."

Many years ago the excellent Patriot, from Matanzas, ceased to exist, she who held in her trembling hands, before reaching her beloved Homeland, the Lone Star Flag, and she who afterward, with her deep, almond-shaped eyes closed forever by the sleep of eternity, could not witness the unfolding of the sacred banner.