Alfredo Zayas y Alonso

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Alfredo Zayas y Alfonso' (1861 - 1934) was a Cuban lawyer, poet and political figure. He served as prosecutor, judge, mayor of Havana, Secretary of the Constitutional Convention, Senator 1905, President of the Senate 1906, Vice-President 1908-13 and President of Cuba from May 20, 1921 to May 20, 1925.

1 Background
2 During the last Cuban war for independence
3 Political career
4 later life
5 Bibliography
6 =External links

[edit] Background

Born in Havana into an aristocratic family with old sugar plantations, he was the son of Dr. Jose Maria de Zayas y Jimenez, a noted lawyer and educator, brother of Dr. Juan Bruno de Zayas, a medical doctor and revolutionary hero who died in the war for Cuba's independence, and of Dr. Francisco de Zayas, Cuba's long-time Minister to Paris and Brussels. As one of the leaders of the Cuban insurrection of 1895, he ceased using the noble-sounding "de" in his name and became known simply as Alfredo Zayas. Besides his successful legal practice, he was active in Cuban literary circles and was co-editor of the journal "Cuba Literaria".

[edit] During the last Cuban war for independence

Zayas was an intellectual, not a military leader, and upon the beginning of the 1895-1898 Cuban war of independence, he was deported to Spain, where he wrote some of his best poetry in the Carcel Modelo de Madrid [1], subsequently published in his Obras Completas, Vol. 1, Poesia. Zayas was sometimes referred to as the "erudite civilian president", because unlike his predecessor and his successor he did not have experience in the field of battle.

[edit] Political career

Upon his return to Cuba after the Spanish-Cuban-American War known in the US as Spanish-American War, he became acting mayor of Havana. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention 1901 and became its secretary. A vocal leader of the opposition against US-annexation of Cuba, he voted against the Platt Amendment and against granting naval bases to the United States in Guantanamo and Bahia Honda.

Zayas became leader of the liberal party (left-wing) and was elected Vice-President 1908. In the contested, 1916 presidential election in which the populist [2] Liberal Party used violent tactics, he obtained more votes than the pro-US candidate, Cornell graduate General Mario Garcia Menocal. The Chambelona War ensued, which after some reverses, was won by the Conservative Forces of Garcia Menocal with the covert support of the United States. [3]. Zayas surrendered in Cambute near Guanabacoa [4] where it was said he was hiding [5]. The United States provided military support to Garcia Menocal from Guantanamo Naval Base, without formally invoking its right of intervention pursuant to the Platt Amendment, incorporated in the US-Cuba Treaty of 1903. However, US only deployed forces in Oriente Province. Reelected in 1920, Zayas became President in 1921. He served only one term, during which he started the process to give the vote to Cuban women (resolution in the Senate, 1921), negotiated the return of Cuban sovereignty over the Isle of Pines (Isla de la Juventud, 110.86 square kilometers) which had been occupied by the US since 1898 (Hay-Quedada Treaty of 1925), obtained a 50 Million US loan from J.P.Morgan, and for the first time allowed full freedom of expression and of the press.

Although his administration was systematically defamed by the opposition as corrupt, it actually was less corrupt that preceding and subsequent administrations, and Zayas, refrained from censoring the press or arresting critics, unlike prior and later Cuban presidents. This brought him the nickname "el Chino" (the Chinaman), because of his stoicism ("la flema de Zayas") and his "oriental patience". Sometimes he was also nicknamed "pesetero", because since his imprisonment in Madrid he had always carried a Spanish Peseta coin in his vest pocket. When he took office in 1921, the country was in bankruptcy, with debts exceeding 40 million US Dollars, and sugar prices plummeting from 22 cents to 3 cents per pound. In spite of this, he carried out a number of reforms, particularly in the field of education.

[edit] later life

He did not run for reelection and devoted his last years to giving conferences and pursuing his manifold literary and historical interests, including the publication of his major work, the 2-volume "Lexicografia Antillana", which had seen an earlier edition in 1914, and occupying the post of President of the "Academia de la Historia" until his death. In the next election Gerardo Machado was elected, but turned dictatorial, and after a series of coups that followed when Machado was forced to step down Fulgencio Batista rose to power.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Alfredo Zayas

Alfredo Zayas, "Obras Completas", Vol.I: Poesias, Vol.2 Discursos y Conferencias, La Habana 1941-42.

Alfredo Zayas, "Un Capitulo de la Historia de Cuba", La Habana, 1916.

Alfredo Zayas, "Lexicografia Antillana", Bd. 1-2, La Habana, 1931-32.

Alfredo Zayas, "La Poesia Patriotica en Cuba hasta 1868", Academia Nacional de Artes y Letras, La Habana, 1931.

Alfredo Zayas, "El presbiterio don Jose Augustin Caballero y su vida y sus obras", La Habana, 1891.

Alfredo Zayas, "La Evolucion Social" La Habana, 1891.

Alfredo Zayas, "Por la Gloria de Luz y Caballero" La Habana 1909.

Alfredo Zayas, Nestor Carbonell Cortina: "Perfil Historico del IV Presidente de Cuba Republicana Alfredo Zayas y Alfonso", San Juan, Puerto Rico 1985.

[edit] Other authors

Jose Manuel Carbonell, "Evolucion de la Cultura Cubana". La Habana, Imp. Montalvo y Cardenas, 1928, Tomo III (La Oratoria en Cuba) pp. 102-105, Tomo IV, 30f.

Juan J. Remos, "Historia de la Literatura Cubana", Miami, Mnemosyne Publishing Co., 136f.

Vidal Morales, "Iniciadores y Primeros Martires de la Revolucion Cubana", La Habana, La Moderna Poesia, 1931 Tomo III, pp. 113ff.

Carlos Marquez Sterling, "Historia de Cuba", Miami, pp. 289ff.

Carlos Márquez-Sterling & Manuel Márquez-Sterling, "Historia de la Isla de Cuba", 1975, New York, Regents Publishing Co. pp 178-181

Fernando de Zayas, "Prosa y Versos", La Habana 1909

Harry Frank Guggenheim, "The United States and Cuba: A Study in International Relations", New York, Arno Press, 1970, pp. 156ff.

Francisco Lopez Leiva: "Juan Bruno Zayas, General de Brigada del Ejercito Libertador". La Habana, 1922.

Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring, "Historia de la Enmienda Platt: Una Interpretacion de la Realidad Cubana", La Habana, 1935.

Francisco Xavier de Santa Cruz, "Historia de Familias Cubanas", Editorial Hercules, La Habana, 1943.

See also the respective entries in the "Enciclopedia universal Espasa Calpe" and in Merriam Webster "New Biographical Dictionary".

[edit] Chambelona War

González, Reynaldo 1978 Nosotros los liberales nos comimos la lechona. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales. Havana

Waldemar Leon Caicaje: Batalla Final de una Revuelta. pp. 100-103, 113

Morales y Morales, Vidal 1959 (printed 1962) Sobre la guerra civil de 1917. Documentos del Siglo XX, Boletín del Archivo Nacional. Volume 58 pp.178-256.

Portell Vila, Herminio La Chambelona en Oriente. pp. 12-13, 112-125.