Juan Gualberto Gómez Ferrer

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Politician (patriot), journalist and leader of Cuban African Americans, who distinguished himself in the Independence of Cuba and during the republican period between 1901 and 1933.

He was born in Sabanilla del Encomendador (now Municipality of Juan Gualberto Gómez), Matanzas.

Of African American origin, he was born at the sugar mill "Vellocino de Oro", property of Catalina Gómez. His parents, Fermín Gómez (Yeyé) and Serafina Ferrer (Fina), were enslaved, but managed to purchase the child's freedom before his birth, in accordance with the law of the time. His status as a free man allowed him to learn to read and write.

Due to his remarkable intelligence and easy learning ability, despite the economic sacrifice it meant for them, his parents sent him to study in Havana, at the Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados school, directed by Antonio Medina y Céspedes, an African American teacher inspired by the work of José de la Luz y Caballero.

In 1868 the so-called Ten Years' War broke out. The young man was present as a spectator at a function at the Villanueva theater, when it was assaulted by royalist groups. The reason was that the proceeds from the presented work were benefiting independence groups. The gravity of the incidents and the climate of violence that was beginning to prevail led Juan Gualberto's parents, supported economically by Catalina Gómez, to send him to France to study the trade of carriage builder, one of the few prominent trades that African Americans and mixed-race people could aspire to during the colonial period.

The following year, the owner of the sugar mill, Catalina Gómez, arrived in Paris for a visit, accompanied by the young man's parents. Master Binder believed that given his apprentice's capacity and intelligence, it would be advisable to make an effort and provide him with a professional career. The young man was enrolled in a preparatory school for engineers, the prestigious Escuela Mungo.

In July 1870 the Franco-Prussian War broke out followed by the Siege of Paris, and the uprising of the Paris Commune which temporarily interrupted his plans of study.

In July 1872 Francisco Vicente Aguilera and General Manuel de Quesada arrived in Paris to collect funds for the independence fighters in Cuba.
When they needed a translator, Juan Gualberto was hired, establishing his first political connection. His own experience as an African American and the rebellion against the Spanish Empire in Cuba were shaping him as a politician involved in his country's independence.

To the difficult political situation in France was added a difficult economic situation for the young man. In 1874 his parents found themselves in a poor economic situation and informed him that they could no longer finance his stay in Paris, and recommended that he return to Cuba. The young man, not wanting to return, sought poorly paid employment in commercial houses, as a reporter or correspondent.

In 1875 the Third French Republic was born and Juan Gualberto suspended his studies upon obtaining a position as a journalist at the magazine Revue et Gazette des Theatres, which would be the beginning of his journalistic career.

In 1878 he was in Mexico, where he met the abolitionist Nicolás de Azcárate, a Cuban exile, when he learned of the defeat of the independence forces in Cuba and the end of the Ten Years' War with the signing of the Paz del Zanjón. Facing the new political situation, many exiles returned to Cuba, and Juan Gualberto decided to return to Cuba.

In late 1878 Juan Gualberto returned to Havana, where he met José Martí. From then on an empathy founded on shared ideals would strengthen the friendship and unite the revolutionary action of both. He founded the newspaper La Fraternidad in 1879, whose publication was interrupted when he was deported due to his sympathy and connection to revolutionary clubs and conspiratorial movements of that era.

After arriving in Spain following his deportation, he took advantage of the European scene to carry out intense work in publications such as El Abolicionista, la Tribuna, El Pueblo, El Progreso—organs of Spanish republicans—and other newspapers.

Upon his return to Cuba in 1890 and for the work carried out, José Martí appointed him as his delegate on the Island for war preparations. It fell to him to give the order for armed uprising on February 24, 1895. Arrested shortly after, he was deported again and imprisoned in Ceuta. But the end of Spanish colonialism in Cuba was dictated by the patriotism and armed struggle of Cubans.

After Cuba declared itself a Republic on May 20, 1901, he was a skilled fighter against Tomás Estrada Palma, the first president of the Republic, and the Platt Amendment, which turned Cuba into almost a U.S. colony. His articles and chronicles in which he exposed embezzlement and the fawning stances of pro-annexionists, transcended with the integrity of one who, even from his old age, maintained a stance consistent with the Martí legacy.

Juan Gualberto Gómez died on March 5, 1933, at the age of 80. That son of slaves had conquered a venerable place on the altar of the fatherland.

In his honor, the Union of Journalists of Cuba instituted the annual award bearing his name. The international airport of Varadero bears his name.