Juan Castellá Lluch

Outstanding Cuban teacher.

He was born in the city of Matanzas, son of Casimiro Castellá Viola, who was a native of Asturias, Spain and of Dolores Lluch Pérez, a native of the city of Manzanillo, in Cuba.

He spent his early years in his native city, Matanzas, where he received a careful education within his family, attending primary school, where he distinguished himself by his natural intelligence, being recognized by his teachers and achieving the highest grades.

At 17 years of age in his native city, the War of Independence surprised him on February 24, 1895 and with his father deceased, the family decided to move to the city of Manzanillo. To do this they had to go through difficult days due to the hardships that war imposed, as they had to cross through thick forests for much of their journey.

He showed a strong character, very protective of his family. Once settled in Manzanillo, his mother did not feel comfortable and after some time decided to move to the Campechuela neighborhood to live permanently.

Once the family was settled in Campechuela, his mother was appointed administrator of mail and telegraphs, and Juan helped her in this task, demonstrating his intelligence, his organized manner and seriousness in everything he did, which was the starting point of his later vocation as a teacher.

The young man felt sympathy for the revolutionary cause and collaborated in a simple way by building hectographs from yúa wood (Cuban wood) for the insurgent camps in the Guá area.

Once the war of independence ended and the Treaty of Paris was signed (December 10, 1898), the American interventionist government put its educational plan into practice and for this reason they requested young people who wished to take on the honorable task of educating and instructing.

Juan submitted his application to work as a teacher with the determined support of his mother. He completed his teaching studies by correspondence, with the direction in the hands of Manuel Aguayo, a Cuban pedagogue. The exams were held in Santiago de Cuba.

At the end of each school year, systematically as he passed each year of study, he was able to work at the next higher grade and so on successively until he obtained the grade of teacher.

In 1906 he married Estrella Ferrer Pérez who would be his wife for life, a native of Campechuela from whom he received great support in his life as an educator. After some years of service, he was appointed director, a position he held for more than 30 years with responsibility, love, dedication, interest and above all a great desire to educate and teach his people about the main issues related to the humane work to which he dedicated his entire life.

In 1914 he reached the highest positions, being selected as president and venerable teacher respectively. He was appointed dean of teachers, founder of the Teachers' College of Cuba, and later Colleges of Normal Teachers, today SNTECD.

In March 1935 he played an active part in the general strike that spread throughout the country and had great impact in the region. It began by requesting salary increases for teachers and other demands, until it was defeated in blood by the corrupt government ruling at that time.

Being a teacher of 4 generations, in 1952 when 50 years of the republic were being commemorated, the Cuban government passed a retirement law for teachers in service who had 50 years of work, and Juan Castellá obtained the third case in the republic, receiving on that occasion the honorable title of emeritus teacher and the highest decoration, the Order of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, which he did not accept because he would have to receive it from the hands of the dictator Fulgencio Batista.

The tribute from the just and grateful people to the figure who dedicated his life to the education of his people was not long in coming. He was declared an adopted son of Campechuela, lifetime president of the Liceo society, venerable teacher of the Monte Líbano Lodge.

Juan Castellá, now retired, contributed to the founding of the school that today bears his name, teaching Spanish classes with great quality and seeking the appropriate methods to teach his students. He always knew how to earn the respect of his people as an educator.

Today, as a simple but profound way of remembering him and recognizing his values, a junior high school bears his name, as does the workers' and peasants' college of Campechuela and a street in the municipality.

His death occurred on September 19, 1955 in the city of Santiago de Cuba, after a painful illness. His people knew how to pay him their last tributes by declaring municipal mourning while his body remained unburied.