# Cuban playwright Gerardo Fernández dies

**Date:** 12/22/2020

The renowned Cuban playwright Gerardo Fernández García passed away in Havana in the early morning hours of December 20, victim of complications associated with cancer.

Fernández García is considered one of Cuba's most prolific playwrights. Among his best-known works are the telenovelas El naranjo del Patio, Entre Mamparas, El Balcón de los helechos and the television series La Botija.

He was a Film and Television Screenwriting instructor, playwright, screenwriter and Associate Professor of the Faculty of Art of Audiovisual Communication Media (ISA), at Cuba's University of the Arts. He trained screenwriters at the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana since 2013 and authored the book "Dramaturgia (Method for writing or analyzing a dramatized script)".

Gerardo Fernández García, awarded the Order of National Culture in Cuba and a Cuban television Artist of Merit, had his own concept of dramaturgy: "It is the art of organizing a meaningful narrative through characters or stereotypes".

Following his death, renowned actress Luisa María Jiménez wrote on her Facebook: "The creator of Naranjo del Patio has just passed away, the author who wrote one of the most beautiful characters I have ever played: Mariela; an unforgettable character that I treasure in my career. I owe it to his trust, nobility and the stature of a cultured man. Thank you Gerardo! Rest in peace! I will never forget you, Thank you!".

The death of Gerardo Fernández García had a major impact on the audiovisual sector in Ecuador, the country where he had been collaborating in recent years. The portal primicias.es summarizes it this way: "This is a note about affection. Because as soon as it was known that Gerardo Fernández García had passed away in his native Cuba, all that could be found on social media were expressions of affection. An affection and pain for the death of the master. But, above all, gratitude".

Fernández García possessed more than half a century of experience in the world of dramaturgy and 40 years in teaching. He received multiple awards throughout his career in several countries, where his work has also been performed, such as Cuba, Bulgaria and the former Soviet Union.

From his Facebook, the Film School of the University of the Arts in Ecuador also bids farewell to the creator: "With much sadness we have learned of the passing of Gerardo Fernández García, who for decades contributed very importantly to the training of screenwriters and playwrights, to the dissemination of his vast knowledge about cinema, in his native Cuba and in Ecuador, a country that he adopted as his own.

"The Film School of the University of the ARTS –it continues– in Ecuador, expresses its deep regret for this loss, and extends to his family and friends, particularly to his wife Tania, a gesture of solidarity".