Reinaldo Arenas was a Cuban poet, novelist, and playwright who is known as a vocal critic of Fidel Castro, the Cuban Revolution, and the Cuban government.
21 Facts About Reinaldo Arenas
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Reinaldo Arenas was born in the countryside of Newport Beach, Aguas Claras, Holguin Province, Cuba, and later moved to the city of Holguin as a teenager.
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Reinaldo Arenas was six years old when he started school, attending Rural School 91 in Perronales County.
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The first time that Reinaldo Arenas was in Havana was in 1960.
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Reinaldo Arenas returned later when he enrolled in a planning course at the University of Havana and reported to the Hotel Nacional de Cuba.
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Reinaldo Arenas feared ending up in one of the Military Units to Aid Production, which were concentration camps for LGBT people, Christians, and suspected members of the Cuban dissident movement.
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Reinaldo Arenas watched as various friends and acquaintances pledged their allegiance to the regime in exchange for safety.
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Reinaldo Arenas watched that happen with Herberto Padilla, who had written a book that was critical of the Cuban Revolution to an official competition.
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Reinaldo Arenas painted himself as a coward and a traitor, apologized for his previous work, and threw blame on himself.
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Reinaldo Arenas publicly denounced his friends and his wife and said that they had counterrevolutionary attitudes.
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Reinaldo Arenas orchestrated Arenas's move from the institute to the library.
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Reinaldo Arenas left the library and became an editor for the Cuban Book Institute until 1968.
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Reinaldo Arenas escaped the prison and tried to leave Cuba by launching himself from the shore on a tire inner tube, but he was rearrested near Lenin Park and imprisoned at the notorious El Morro Castle alongside murderers and rapists.
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Reinaldo Arenas survived by helping the inmates to write letters to wives and lovers.
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Reinaldo Arenas collected enough paper that way to continue his writing.
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Reinaldo Arenas came on the San Lazaro, a boat captained by the Cuban emigre Roberto Aguero.
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In 1987, Reinaldo Arenas was diagnosed with AIDS but continued to write and speak out against the Cuban government.
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Reinaldo Arenas mentored many Cuban exile writers, including John O'Donnell-Rosales.
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In 2012, Reinaldo Arenas was inducted into the Legacy Walk, an outdoor public display that celebrates LGBT history and people.
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In 2000, the work was made into a film, directed by Julian Schnabel in which Reinaldo Arenas was played by Javier Bardem.
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The Reinaldo Arenas Papers are held at Princeton University Library.