Jesus Castellanos
Jesús Castellanos y Villageliú (August 8, 1878 – May 29, 1912) was a Cuban writer, journalist, critic, caricaturist and lawyer born in Havana, Cuba.
In 1896, his parents, fearing his involvement in the bloody and ever increasing conflict in Cuba's war of independence from Spain, decided to send him to Mexico to live with an uncle, Pedro Calvo.
During the first American intervention, Castellanos returned to Cuba and re-entered the University of Havana, but instead of resuming his legal training, he took up the study of architecture, influenced no doubt by his great interest in drawing—he had been a disciple of the Cuban painter Leopoldo Romañach, had attended art classes in the Academia de San Alejandro in La Habana as well as in the Academia de San Carlos during his stay in Mexico City.
These contributions appeared daily for a little more than a year, and from them the author selected the fifty-two that had been given the greatest acclaim and published them in book form under the title Cabezas de Estudio.
His intellectual and philosophical accomplishments had given him a cultural equilibrium that he well utilised in his weekly articles, which dealt with varied subjects on a local, national, and international basis.
Castellanos held that the Cuban press was a most effective means of stimulating the intellectual growth of his compatriots, of creating civic pride in a community, and of promoting the general welfare of the island republic.
His only works published in book form prior to his death were: Cabezas de Estudio (1902), a collection of caricatures of men prominent in public life of Cuba during his time; De Tierra Adentro (1906), a volume of short stories; La Conjura (1908), a novel; and La Manigua Sentimental (1910), a short novel.
This element of his writing was prompted by his fervent love for his compatriots, and this intense interest in the welfare of his country caused him to devote himself to the realisation of a more cultured Cuba, a more enlightened people, and a better social order.
His independence of thought and expression often carried him away from the multitudes of South American critics; if his convictions caused him to walk alone, he willingly did so, defending that which was just and fair.
In his book De la Vida Internacional, Castellanos attempts to interest his people in world problems—for well does he realize that a knowledge of international affairs will make his fellow countrymen less provincial and at the same time create a more appreciative attitude toward their own country.
The Isle of Pines (now called Isla de la Juventud) was deemed outside the boundaries of Cuba until the title to it was adjusted in a future treaty.
Havana was seething as a result of the Platt Amendment and gave formal protest to General Leonard Wood, the U.S. Military Governor of Cuba at the time.
Juan Gualberto Gómez, Cuban senator, denounced the amendment stating, "To reserve to the U.S. the faculty of deciding for themselves when independence is menaced and when therefore they ought to intervene, to preserve it, is equivalent to delivering up the key of our house so that they can enter it at all hours when the desire takes them, day or night."
Both were arrested for criminal libel and held in the Vivac prison of Havana, and the offices of La Discusión newspaper were sealed (Wood was persuaded to release them on the following day).
