Known as an expert on Afro-Cuban culture, he studied sociology at the University of Havana, under Fernando Ortiz, the pioneer of Cuban anthropology.
Miguel Angel Barnet Lanza was born on January 28, 1940, in Havana, Cuba, to a prominent Cuban family of Catalan descent.
[1] Though he had his early education in the United States, when his family lived in Atlanta, Georgia, for a time, Barnet maintained a high degree of interest in and awareness of Cuban culture.
In his early years he was a regular contributor of poetry and other writings to such Cuban publications as Lunes de Revolución and Hoy.
The professor introduced Barnet to an ethnographic model centered on indigenous religion, creole language, and the oral tradition.
Ortiz’s view of ethnographic research focusing primarily on indigenous culture was influenced by the Cuban communist political ideology of the time, rejecting European modes of learning.
But Barnet was a staunch supporter of the Revolution, and his work satisfies political emphases in its focus on and recognition of the former slave class of Afro-Cubans.
Barnet’s work is widely considered a synthesis of history and literature, as it is informed by the imaginative approach he demonstrates in his poetry.
The composer Hans Werner Henze wrote a piece, El Cimarrón, based on Barnet's book.