Rómulo Lachatañeré

Fighter against the tyranny of Gerardo Machado. Laboratory technician at Columbia University hospital.

He studied primary and secondary education in his native city and later graduated as a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Havana.

A fighter against the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado from the student ranks. He later joined the Communist Party of Cuba. He served time for participating in the March 1935 strike. He went on a scholarship to the United States and fought in World War II.

He collaborated in the newspapers "Diario de Cuba" (Santiago de Cuba) and "Noticias de hoy" (Havana), and in the magazines "Estudios Afrocubanos" (where he published "The Religious System of the Lucumís and Other African Influences in Cuba" between 1939 and 1940) "Mediodía", both from Havana, and Visión, from New York. He gave numerous lectures.

He died in an aviation accident known as the "Good Friday" tragedy, when flight 526A of Pan American World Airways, which was transporting about 64 passengers to New York City, experienced engine problems minutes after takeoff, crashing into the waters of San Juan Bay, Puerto Rico. At the time of his death, he was a laboratory technician at Columbia University hospital and an activist of the Communist Party of the United States.

His original surname was Lachataignerais, but it was Hispanicized. This Santiago researcher decided to Hispanicize his surname and be known, forever, as Rómulo Lachatañeré.

"Rómulo was a Santiago native who dedicated himself to studying the African presence and its influence on Cuban culture. He studied the different African ethnic groups that entered Cuba, which allowed him to determine which African cultures truly left a mark on Cuban culture, for example the Yoruba and the Bantu, the first in the west and the second in the east, not only in religious matters but they had influences in a general sense on culture. The Bantu manifested itself in eastern Cuba, but with marked emphasis in Santiago".

Undoubtedly, that is one of the most important contributions of Rómulo Lachatañeré, a Santiago researcher who decided to Hispanicize his surname and be known, forever, as Rómulo Lachatañeré.

Master of Science Zoe Cremé does not hide being a passionate researcher of the life and work of this man, and more than anything, she seeks the necessary proper appreciation of his legacy today. That is why, within the III Colloquium "The French in Cuba and the Caribbean", she brought up the topic of this man who delved into "Afro-Cuban" matters.

"Rómulo was a Santiago native who dedicated himself to studying the African presence and its influence on Cuban culture. He studied the different African ethnic groups that entered Cuba, which allowed him to determine which African cultures truly left a mark on Cuban culture, for example the Yoruba and the Bantu, the first in the west and the second in the east, not only in religious matters but they had influences in a general sense on culture. The Bantu manifested itself in eastern Cuba, but with marked emphasis in Santiago", she asserts.

Lachatañeré also devoted important space in his work to raciality at a time when speaking of this was almost unthinkable. And despite this, his legacy is not fully known.

He was the researcher who defined Santería; he gave the concept, and he considers it as a purely Cuban product.

"Manual de santería", from 1942, is considered by some researchers his most polished work and the one with the most contributions. In it, Lachatañeré examines religious syncretism in Cuba from new perspectives.

About him, Fernando Ortiz himself wrote "It is a courageous book both for what it affirms and for what it denies" and in which some scholars recognize the voices and words of people of African descent, "so they can tell their stories, their myths and legends, always marked by a profound respect".

Active Bibliography
!!Oh, my Yemayá!! (1938)
Manual de santería; el sistema de cultos lucumí (1942)