Asela de los Santos Dies in Havana

January 23, 2020

The educator Asela de los Santos passed away on January 23, 2020.

Asela was a prominent Cuban revolutionary and pedagogue, considered the founder of Revolutionary Pedagogy and one of its most faithful promoters.

Likewise, she permanently defended the right to education, and was among those who worked tirelessly for the improvement of teaching in Cuba.
She was born on September 10, 1929 in Santiago de Cuba, and graduated with a Doctorate in Pedagogy in 1954.

A dear friend of Vilma Espín and Frank País, and wife of revolutionary José Ramón Fernández, affectionately known as El Gallego, Asela led an important educational battle following the revolutionary triumph, and actively joined the revolutionary process by holding important positions at the national level, including that of Minister of Education.

She participated in the reopening of schools closed by the tyranny and in the first Literacy Campaign.

Earlier, during the insurrectional period, she was assigned the responsibility of directing the Education Department in the II Eastern Front; more than 400 schools were put into operation and created for children and groups were formed for the literacy training of combatants in the different camps, until the triumph of the Revolution when she assumed the responsibility of Provincial Superintendent of Education in Oriente.

In 1960 she participated with Vilma in the creation of the Federation of Cuban Women, serving on its National Bureau, first as an Organizer and later as general secretary, a position she held until 1966 when she moved to MINFAR as Head of the Teaching Direction and Military Schools "Camilo Cienfuegos" of the General Staff. She was promoted to the rank of Captain.

In 1970 she was appointed General Director of Teacher Personnel Training of the Ministry of Education, being promoted to different responsibilities, including that of Minister.

She was a founder of the Communist Party of Cuba and a member of its Central Committee for three terms. She worked as an analyst in the History Office of the FAR.

Distinctions and Tributes

On September 11, 2009, on her 80th birthday, a tribute ceremony was held promoted by the national leadership of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution, where one of its directors, Division General Jesús Bermúdez Cutiño, presented her with a certificate of recognition. Jorge Risquet Valdés called it "a minimal portrait of Asela".

She was awarded the Playa Girón Order, one of the highest decorations granted by the Council of State, by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, President of the Councils of State and Ministers.

She also received a tribute from the Revolutionary Armed Forces with the presentation of the Replica of the Yacht Granma by Army Corps General Julio Casas Regueiro, former minister of the FAR, and from the Ministry of the Interior, with the presentation of a portrait of Che by Army Corps General Abelardo Colomé Ibarra, who was Minister of the Interior.

On January 15, 2018, she received together with José Ramón Fernández, advisor to the President of the Councils of State and Ministers, the National Pedagogy Award 2017, conferred by the Association of Cuban Pedagogues (APC).

On January 24, 2018, the National Academy of Song Mariana de Gonitch and the Russian embassy in Cuba honored her with the Distinction for Cultural Merit.