Manuel Serafín Pichardo Peralta

Illustrious Cuban poet and journalist. Distinguished intellectual with a vast artistic and cultural body of work. Counselor of the Cuban Legation in Madrid.

Born in Santa Clara. Settled in the Cuban capital since his youth. He completed his primary education in his native city. He earned a doctorate in Law from the University of Havana. He was an alternate delegate to Cuba's Constitutional Convention and held several positions in his country's administration. He later pursued a diplomatic career, serving as First Secretary of the Legation in Madrid, subsequently becoming its Counselor.

A brilliant, cultured, and enterprising journalist. He founded and directed the magazine «El Fígaro» in Havana. He was a literary editor for the Cuban newspapers «La Iberia», «El Radical» and «La Lucha», also contributing to major magazines in Spain and the Americas.

He created and presided over the Association of the Press of Cuba. He was a member of the National Academy of Arts and Letters, the Cuban Academy of the Language—created at his initiative—, the Royal Hispanic-American Academy of Cádiz, and others. He worked as general secretary of the International Commission of Technology and Bibliography in Madrid. He received decorations from France and Italy. At the time of his death, he held the position of counselor-minister of the Cuban Embassy in Madrid. He used the pseudonym "El Conde Fabián".

Manuel Serafín Pichardo wrote the sonnet "Soy cubano" at the beginning of the Republic, which enjoyed enormous popularity. He also wrote the poems "Cuba a la República" and "Canto a Villaclara".

He died of natural causes at the age of 74.

Source: La Prosa Modernista y CubaLiteraria