10 Facts About Cirilo Villaverde

Cirilo Villaverde de la Paz was a Cuban poet, novelist, journalist and freedom fighter.

Cirilo Villaverde is best known for Cecilia Valdes, a novel about classes and races in colonial Cuba.

Cirilo Villaverde was born to a doctor on a sugar plantation called San Diego de Nunez.

Cirilo Villaverde's family lived by a sugarcane mill, so he was able to observe slavery and all of its evils from a very young age.

Cirilo Villaverde was only briefly employed by a law firm before becoming a teacher and devoting himself to literature.

Cirilo Villaverde attended the literary gatherings of Domingo del Monte, an advocate of public education.

In 1848, before that occurred, Cirilo Villaverde was arrested by Spanish soldiers in his own home but, the following year, successfully arranged his escape and fled to the United States and settled in New York, where he was politically active; working as the editor and publisher of some Cuban exile magazines, including La Verdad and El Independiente.

Cirilo Villaverde was apparently disheartened by the state of things there and returned to New York in 1860, where he worked as an editor for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.

Cirilo Villaverde spent the remainder of his life working for various publications, writing novels, translating and advocating for Cuban independence.

Cirilo Villaverde's remains were returned there and placed in an unmarked grave.