ES / EN
- March 28, 2023 -
No Result
View All Result
OnCubaNews Needs You
OnCubaNews
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors
OnCubaNews
ES / EN
Home Cuba

Havana orphaned

Eusebio Leal’s great work is Havana, and that city―which is also mine―owes him what has been saved of it.

by Avatar photo Tahimi Arboleya, tahimi-arboleya, otmaro
August 3, 2020
in Cuba
0
Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez

Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez

One of the most extraordinary Cubans with whom I have shared the breath of time that reaches us while alive has died. Eusebio Leal was a brilliant intellectual, a gifted orator, an impeccable humanist, a stubborn lover…tireless; and, above all, a useful man.

It’s hard to imagine that he had formally studied only up to sixth grade, this wise man who received the highest awards from the academy in so many places in the world. He started working from the age of 16 and formed himself, not only by reading but by listening; it is said that he was an excellent listener, with that insatiable thirst to swallow the world, to understand the world and people, to find the poetry hidden in a gesture, or on a wall.

Eusebio’s great work is Havana, and that city―which is also mine―owes him what has been saved of it. Not only did he prevent with his body and soul that ignorance, or apathy, or poverty, rip her to pieces or let her die; rather, he planned and executed―as far as he could, and it was a lot―its resurrection.

He thought of Havana as a living body, that’s why it can never be said that Eusebio Leal dedicated himself to restoring its plazas, its streets, its buildings… he knew that the soul of cities is in its people, in all the people who inhabit and have inhabited it; that is why for him conserving was an act, not of wealth, but of survival.

“Like people, each city has its imprints. More than a set of definitions and memories, Havana is a state of mind. People come and wonder what is going on here that they feel so good, that it’s so nice to be here?

“Havana is an eclectic city, like Cubans, a synthesis of the elements of classical, modern, contemporary, and art nouveau architecture, to the point of reaching the Cubanacán Art Schools. We don’t know what would happen if that urban outline is disrupted, that very special design, in which you can walk along the Malecón, from the newest spaces in the city to the Historic Center, always facing the sea. Havana is the island city, the port city, a city where 10, 15, 20,000 people sit on the Malecón seaside wall at night to talk, to watch, to take in the breeze. Havana is a city facing the world.”1

Related Posts

Members of a polling station carry out the vote count, at the close of electoral day, in Havana. Photo: Ernesto Mastrascusa/EFE.

Cuba reports 75.92% participation in parliamentary elections, the lowest since 1959

March 27, 2023
Photo: Kaloian.

What do we do with closed dwellings?

March 27, 2023

OnCuba’s Instagram account has been hacked

March 25, 2023
Lineups of Cuba and the United States during the opening ceremony of the semifinal game at LoanDepot Park, in Miami on March 19. Photo: EFE/EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH.

The 5th Classic, baseball and Cuba-U.S. relations

March 26, 2023
Havana residents hang white sheets on the balconies in tribute to Eusebio Leal. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez

We Cubans have lost an exceptional brother, an enlightened man who changed our lives, who saved something of ourselves. Havana is in mourning; it is an orphan who took out her white sheets like huge handkerchiefs to console a deep cry. Now it’s her turn to grow up as when, at any age, we have to stop being children because we have been forced by orphanhood.

 

1 of 10
- +

1. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez

2. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez

3. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez

4. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez

5. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez

6. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez

7. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez

8. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez

9. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez

10. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez

***

Notes:

1 “La Habana es un estado de ánimo,” interview with Eusebio Leal by Julio César Guanche.

Authors

Avatar photo Tahimi Arboleya, tahimi-arboleya, otmaro
Tags: Eusebio LealHavana
Previous Post

Cuba exceeds 200 active COVID-19 cases, with the 24 new positive cases reported today

Next Post

Cuban Information Flows in the Time of COVID-19

Tahimi Arboleya

Tahimi Arboleya

Licenciada en Microbiología, Universidad de La Habana. Master en Comunicación. Directora Editorial de OnCuba.

tahimi-arboleya

tahimi-arboleya

otmaro

otmaro

Next Post
Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez

Cuban Information Flows in the Time of COVID-19

Photo: The Independent

The tweet of discord

Photo: @BioCubaFarma/Twitter.

New joint venture joins Cuba with United Kingdom

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

The conversation here is moderated according to OnCuba News discussion guidelines. Please read the Comment Policy before joining the discussion.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Most Read

  • The Enchanted Shrimp of the Cuban Dance

    1804 shares
    Share 722 Tweet 451
  • What foods can be brought to Cuba and what imports are forbidden?

    485 shares
    Share 194 Tweet 121
  • New online form for travelers arriving in Cuba

    109 shares
    Share 44 Tweet 27
  • A new approach to Operation Peter Pan

    7 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 2
  • Cuba denounces “regrettable and dangerous” incidents against its team in World Baseball Classic

    5 shares
    Share 2 Tweet 1

Most Commented

  • Cabaret Kursal, Havana, 1950s. Photo: Herbert C. Lanks/FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

    The Camelot of the libido

    34 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9
  • Cuban-American teacher Carlos Lazo sends letter to Trump asking for lifting of sanctions against Cuba

    25 shares
    Share 10 Tweet 6
  • What foods can be brought to Cuba and what imports are forbidden?

    485 shares
    Share 194 Tweet 121
  • About us
  • Work with OnCuba
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Moderation policy for comments
  • Contact us
  • Advertisement offers

OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions.
OnCuba © by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors

OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions.
OnCuba © by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version