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• 01 / 25 / 2010

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The Jose Marti Research Centre (CEM) presented its annual Pensar es Servir award to the Jose Marti Natal House Museum and to Havana City Historian Eusebio Leal Spengler.

The highest award authorized by the centre was presented on Friday by CEM Director Ana Sánchez Collazo.

The Jose Marti Natal House Museum receives the award as it celebrates its 85th anniversary. Museum Director Dioelis Delgado Machado spoke at the ceremony, “The museum continues to be a special place for all Cubans.”

Havana City Historian Eusebio Leal Spengler received the award for his constant and exemplary task of rescuing our historic memory and spreading the philosophy of Jose Marti.

All of Cuba is getting ready to celebrate the 157th anniversary of the birth of José Martí who in his short life (January 28, 1853–May 19, 1895) became a leader of the Cuban struggle for independence and an important figure in Latin American literature. He was a poet, an essayist, a journalist, a revolutionary philosopher, a translator, a professor, a publisher, and a political theorist.

Through his writings and political activity, he became a symbol for Cuba’s bid for independence against Spain in the 19th century, and is referred to as the "Apostle of Cuban Independence."

He also fought against the threat of United States expansionism into Cuba. From adolescence, he dedicated his life to the promotion of liberty, political independence for Cuba and intellectual independence for all Spanish Americans.

He was a key figure in the planning and execution of the Cuban War of Independence against Spain, as well as the designer of the Cuban Revolutionary Party and its ideology. He died in military action on May 19, 1895.

Martí is considered one of the great turn-of-the-century Latin American intellectuals. His written works consist of a series of poems, essays, letters, lectures, a novel, and even a children’s magazine. He wrote for numerous Latin American and American newspapers; he also founded a number of newspapers himself.

Havana City Historian Eusebio Leal Spengler said that Martí was the last of the great founders of the Americas and the cornerstone of the foundation that holds up the Cuban people. “Martí is the spirit that we can’t afford to lose because of his incredible humanity, his devotion to the truth, his passion for life, and the extraordinary validity of his philosophy today,” said Leal Spengler.

Pensar es servir is the highest recognition awarded by the CEM to individuals and institutions that stand out in their promotion of the live, work and though of Cuban National Hero Jose Marti.

Previous winners include Cubans Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, Armando Hart Dávalos, Roberto Fernández Retamar, Fina García Marruz and Cintio Vitier Bolaños; and foriegners Mario Alberto Nájera Espinoza, Paul Estrade, Jack Camore and Alfonso Herrera Franyutti.

Armando Hart Dávalos presided over the award ceremony.

Source:  www.jrebelde.cubaweb.cu