Ramón de Palma

Following family tradition, he studied law and received his degree as a lawyer. He suffered hardships and economic difficulties in his youth, which seems to have given him a melancholic and somber character.

In 1837 he published, with José Antonio Echeverría, the Aguinaldo Habanero, where he made known some of his poetic compositions.

In 1838 he founded, with the same Echeverría, the newspaper El Plantel. The following year he began working on the editorial staff of El Álbum. He attended the literary gatherings of Domingo del Monte.

In his early years he wrote under the pseudonym Alfonso de Maldonado. In 1842 he publishes his first book of poems, titled Aves de paso.

In 1848 he publishes two more volumes: Hojas caídas and Melodías poéticas. At the same time that he was a poet, he was a journalist, as well as a novelist and dramatic author. In the Diario de la Marina he published his novel El ermitaño del Niágara, from 1845 and in Revista de La Habana he published his work "Cantares de Cuba" (1854), in which he outlines the study of Cuban popular poetry.

Among Palma's short novels of certain interest are: El cólera en La Habana and La Pascua en San Marcos, both published in El Álbum in 1838. In turn, with the short novel Matanzas y el Yumurí he initiates the siboneyist tendency in narrative prose.

He suffered imprisonment for having collaborated in the landing of Narciso López in 1850. Later, and until his death, he worked as secretary of the Railroad Company. This position allowed him to dedicate himself much more fully to literary activity without needing to practice as a lawyer.

He died in La Habana on July 21, 1860.

Poetic Works
Himno de guerra del cruzado
El fuego fatuo
Al poeta Milanés en su partida