Guillermo Cabrera Infante (;

Gibara Gibara () is a town and municipality of the Province of Holguín in the Republic of Cuba. Gibara is the fourth largest town by population and the ninth by area in Holguín. History The main town was founded on January 16, 1817. It is also known ...

, 22 April 1929 – 21 February 2005) was a

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, and

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

; in the 1950s he used the pseudonym G. Caín, and used Guillermo Cain for the screenplay of the cult classic film ''

Vanishing Point A vanishing point is a point on the image plane of a perspective drawing where the two-dimensional perspective projections of mutually parallel lines in three-dimensional space appear to converge. When the set of parallel lines is perpendicul ...

'' (1971). A one-time supporter of the

politics of Fidel Castro Fidel Castro proclaimed himself to be "a socialist, and Marxist–Leninist". As a Marxist–Leninist, Castro believed strongly in converting Cuba, and the wider world, from a capitalist system in which individuals own the means of production i ...

, Cabrera Infante went into exile to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1965. He is best known for the novel ''

Tres tristes tigres Tres tristes tigres may refer to: * Three Sad Tigers, a 1968 Chilean drama film, based on the play * Tres tristes tigres (play), a play by Alejandro Sieveking, based on the novel * Tres tristes tigres (novel) ''Tres tristes tigres'' ( es, Tres ...

'' (literally: "three sad tigers", published in English as ''Three Trapped Tigers''), which has been compared favorably to

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's ''

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

''.

Biography

Born in

in Cuba's former Oriente Province (now part of

Holguín Province Holguín () is one of the provinces of Cuba, the third most populous after Havana and Santiago de Cuba. It lies in the southeast of the country. Its major cities include Holguín (the capital), Banes, Antilla, Mayarí, and Moa. The province ...

), in 1941 he moved with his parents, to

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, which would be the setting of nearly all of his writings other than his critical works. His parents were founding members of the

Cuban Communist Party The Communist Party of Cuba ( es, Partido Comunista de Cuba, PCC) is the sole ruling party of Cuba. It was founded on 3 October 1965 as the successor to the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which was in turn made up of the 26 ...

. Originally he intended to become a physician, but abandoned that in favor of writing and his passion for the cinema. Starting in 1950, he studied journalism at the

University of Havana The University of Havana or (UH, ''Universidad de La Habana'') is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of the Republic of Cuba. Founded on January 5, 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first ...

. Under the Batista regime he was arrested and fined in 1952 for publishing a short story which included several English-language profanities. His opposition to Batista later cost him a short jail term. He married for the first time in 1953. From 1954 to 1960 he wrote film reviews for the magazine ''Carteles'', using the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

G. Caín; he became its editor in chief, still pseudonymously, in 1957. With the triumph of the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...

in 1959 he was named director of the Instituto del Cine. He was also head of the literary magazine ''Lunes de Revolución'', a supplement to the Communist newspaper ''Revolución''; however, this supplement was prohibited in 1961 by

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

. He divorced in 1961 and in the same year married his second wife, Miriam Gomez, an actress. Having fallen somewhat out of favor with the Castro regime (the government's ban on a documentary on Havana nightlife made by his brother led to his being forbidden to publish in Cuba), he served from 1962 to 1965 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium, as a cultural attaché. During this time, his sentiments turned against the Castro regime; after returning to Cuba for his mother's funeral in 1965, he went into exile, first in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, then in London. In 1966 he published ''

'', a highly experimental,

Joycean A text is deemed Joycean when it is reminiscent of the writings of James Joyce, particularly '' Ulysses'' or ''Finnegans Wake''. Joycean fiction exhibits a high degree of verbal play, usually within the framework of stream of consciousness. Works ...

novel, playful and rich in literary allusions, which intended to do for Cuban Spanish what

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

had done for

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...

, recording the great variety of its colloquial variations. It won the 1964

Premio Biblioteca Breve The Premio Biblioteca Breve is a literary award given annually by the publisher Seix Barral (now part of Grupo Planeta) to an unpublished novel in the Spanish language. Its prize is €30,000 and publication of the winning work. It is delivered in ...

for best unpublished novel. He co-wrote the script for

Richard C. Sarafian Richard Caspar Sarafian (April 28, 1930 – September 18, 2013) was an Armenian-American film director and actor. He compiled a versatile career that spanned over five decades as a director, actor, and writer. Sarafian is best known as the direct ...

's 1971 cult film ''

'' under the pseudonym Guillermo Caín. Although he is considered a part of the famed

Latin American Boom The Latin American Boom ( es, Boom latinoamericano) was a literary movement of the 1960s and 1970s when the work of a group of relatively young Latin American novelists became widely circulated in Europe and throughout the world. The Boom is mo ...

generation of writers that includes his contemporary

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

, he disdained the label. Ever an iconoclast, he even rejected the label "novel" for his masterpieces, such as ''

'' and ''La Habana para un infante difunto.'' He was influential to Puerto Rican and Cuban writers such as

Luis Rafael Sánchez Dr. Luis Rafael Sánchez, a.k.a. "Wico" Sánchez (November 17, 1936) is a Puerto Rican essayist, novelist, and short-story author who is widely considered one of the island's most outstanding contemporary playwrights. Possibly his best known play ...

(''La guaracha del Macho Camacho'') and Fernando Velázquez Medina (''Última rumba en La Habana''). In 1997 he received the

Premio Cervantes The Miguel de Cervantes Prize ( es, Premio de Literatura en Lengua Castellana Miguel de Cervantes) is awarded annually to honour the lifetime achievement of an outstanding writer in the Spanish language. History The prize was established in 1975 ...

, presented to him by King

Juan Carlos of Spain Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...

. He died on February 21, 2005, in London, of

sepsis Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...

. He had two daughters from his first marriage.

Bibliography

* ''Así en la paz como en la guerra'' (1960, "In peace as in war"; a pun on a line from the Lord's Prayer), short story collection * ''Twentieth Century Job'' (1963, published in Spanish as "Un oficio del siglo XX"), collection of film reviews * ''

'' (1967, published in English as ''Three Trapped Tigers''; the original title refers to a Spanish-language tongue-twister, and literally means "Three Sad Tigers"; portions of this were later republished as ''Ella cantaba boleros''), novel * ''Vista del amanecer en el trópico'' (1974, published in English as "A View of Dawn in the Tropics"), novel * ''O'' (1975), short story / essay collection * ''Exorcismos de esti(l)o'' (1976, "Exorcisms of style"; ''estilo'' means style and ''estío'', summertime), novel/short story collection * ''La Habana para un Infante Difunto'' (1979, published in English as ''Infante's Inferno''; the Spanish title is a pun on "Pavane pour une infante defunte", title of a piano piece by

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

), novel * ''Holy Smoke'' (1985, in English, later translated into Spanish as ''Puro Humo''), a fictionalized "history" of cigars * ''Mea Cuba'' (1991, the title implies "My Cuba" but also means "Cuba Pisses" or "Cuba is Pissing" and is a pun on ''"Mea Culpa"''), political essays * ''Arcadia todas las noches'' (1995, "Arcadia every night"), essays * ''Delito por bailar el chachachá'' (1995, in English: ''Guilty of Dancing the ChaChaCha'', 2001, translated by himself), short story collection * ''Ella Cantaba Boleros'' (1996, "She Sang Boleros", consists of sections taken from ''Tres Tristes Tigres''), two novellas * ''Cine o sardina'' (1997, "Cinema or sardine", alludes to the choice his mother gave him between eating and going to the movies), collection of articles * ''Vidas para leerlas'' (1998, "Lives to be read"), essays * ''El Libro de las Ciudades'' (1999, "The Book of the Cities"), collection of writings * ''Todo está hecho con espejos: Cuentos casi completos'' (1999, trans. "Everything is Made with Mirrors: Nearly Complete Stories"), short story collection * ''Infantería'' (2000, title is a pun on his name and the Spanish for "infantry"), collection of writings * ''La ninfa inconstante'' (2008, "The Inconstant Nymph", posthumous), novel * ''Cuerpos divinos'' (2010, "Heavenly Bodies", posthumous), autobiographical novel * ''Mapa dibujado por un espía'' (2013, "Map Drawn by a Spy", posthumous), novel Cabrera Infante also translated James Joyce's ''

Dubliners ''Dubliners'' is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. It presents a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century. The stories were writt ...

'' into Spanish (1972) and wrote screenplays, including ''

'' and the adaptation of

Malcolm Lowry Clarence Malcolm Lowry (; 28 July 1909 – 26 June 1957) was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel ''Under the Volcano'', which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.

's ''

Under the Volcano ''Under the Volcano'' is a novel by English writer Malcolm Lowry (1909–1957) published in 1947. The novel tells the story of Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic British consul in the Mexican city of Quauhnahuac, on the Day of the Dead in Novemb ...

''.

References

External links

*
Guillermo Cabrera Infante
(in Spanish, part of Biografías y Vidas). Retrieved February 22, 2005.
Guillermo Cabrera Infante
(in Spanish, from a site about the

). Retrieved February 22, 2005.
Guillermo Cabrera Infante
(in Spanish, from LiteraturaCubana.com). Retrieved February 22, 2005.

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

obituary, on the site of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Retrieved February 22, 2005.
The Guillermo Cabrera Infante Papers
are held at Princeton University Library, Special Collections. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabrera Infante, Guillermo 1929 births 2005 deaths 20th-century essayists 20th-century male writers 20th-century Cuban novelists 20th-century translators Cuban emigrants to England Cuban people of Canarian descent Cuban dissidents Cuban essayists Cuban male novelists Cuban translators English–Spanish translators Translators of James Joyce Male essayists Postmodern writers Premio Cervantes winners Deaths from sepsis Infectious disease deaths in England Cultural attachés

Biography

Bibliography

Further reading

English

Spanish

See also

References

External links