Rafael José Díaz-Balart

Born in Santiago de Cuba, Díaz-Balart received a law degree from the University of Havana in 1919.

While maintaining his law practice he was elected City Council President and Mayor of Banes.

He was elected to the Cuban House of Representatives and transferred his law practice first to the city of Holguín, then to Havana.

[2] In 1948, Díaz-Balart's daughter Mirta married Fidel Castro, then a fellow philosophy student at the University of Havana.

They divorced in 1955, and in 1959, Castro led the Cuban Revolution, overthrowing the government with which both Díaz-Balart and his son Rafael were affiliated.

Rafael Díaz-Balart Hall, building of the Florida International University College of Law , named in part for Rafael José Díaz-Balart.