Mariana Grajales CuelloPullés, Víctor Manuel (2015)
«Algunas informaciones necesarias sobre Mariana Grajales Cuello»
(‘Some necessary information about Mariana Grajales Cuello’), article of June 25, 2015 in the ''Granma'' newspaper (La Habana). It states that her second surname was not "Coello" but "Cuello". (July 12, 1815 – November 28, 1893) is 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 ...

n patriot and icon of the women's struggle for equality and the fight for an independent Cuba free from

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

Service to country

Mariana Grajales was born in

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

on July 12, 1815, to Teresa Cuello Zayas and José Grajales Matos, Dominican parents of

mulato (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese is ...

race. She married in 1851. She bore thirteen children, nine to Maceo, including

Antonio Maceo Grajales Lt. General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales (June 14, 1845December 7, 1896) was second-in-command of the Cuban Army of Independence. Fellow Cubans gave Maceo the nickname “The Bronze Titan" ( es, El Titán de Bronce, links=no), ...

, José Maceo, , , , , Marcos Maceo Grajales, Dominga Maceo and Baldomera Maceo, giving birth to her last child at the age of 52. Mariana, along with her family, lived in the refuge of La Delicia in the barrio Majaguabo of

San Luis, Santiago de Cuba San Luis is a town and municipality in the Santiago de Cuba Province of Cuba. It is located north of Santiago de Cuba. History The city was founded in 1827 on the location of a ranch. Arrival of the railroad accelerated its development. San Luis ...

, later running a mountain settlement and improvised bush hospital. Mariana and her family served in the

Ten Years' War The Ten Years' War ( es, Guerra de los Diez Años; 1868–1878), also known as the Great War () and the War of '68, was part of Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. The uprising was led by Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives. O ...

, Little War (1868–78) and the

War of 1895 The chronology of the colonial time of Cuba is about the Spanish colonial period in Cuba, and the efforts to obtain independence from the Spanish Empire and includes history from the "discovery" of the island by Christopher Columbus to the Spanis ...

. Jose and

, sons of Mariana, served as generals in the Liberation Army from 1868 through 1878. During her time serving in the war, Mariana ran hospitals and provision grounds on the base camps of her son Antonio, frequently entering the battlefield to aid wounded soldiers, both Spaniard and Cuban.

José Martí José Julián Martí Pérez (; January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895) was a Cuban nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the libera ...

, after witnessing Mariana Grajales and Antonio Maceos' wife, , enter the battlefield to rescue the wounded Antonio, remarked: "Fáciles son los heroes con tales mujeres" (It is easy to be heroes with women such as these). In 1878, after losing her husband, some of her sons, and her family estate in the Little War, Mariana went into exile in Jamaica for the safety of her remaining family. For the next 15 years, she continued to fight for Cuban independence from Spain by organizing groups of Cuban exiles in Jamaica. Mariana Grajales Cuello died on November 27, 1893, in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

at the age of 78. In 1923, her remains were returned to Cuba and interred at

Santa Ifigenia Cemetery Santa Ifigenia Cemetery (Spanish: Cementerio Santa Ifigenia) is a cemetery in Santiago de Cuba and resting place of a few notable Cubans. The cemetery opened in 1868 to replace smaller Cemetery of Santa Ana. The signature resting place is th ...

Posthumous recognition

In 1957 the Mayor of

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.

, Justo Luis Pozo del Puerto, officially declared Doña Mariana Grajales de Maceo the "Mother of Cuba." She has achieved iconic status in Cuba, similar to

Nanny of the Maroons Queen Nanny, Granny Nanny, or Nanny of the Maroons ONH (c. 1686 – c. 1733), was an 18th century leader of the Jamaican Maroons. She led a community of formerly enslaved Africans called the Windward Maroons. In the early 18th century, under t ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. On September 4, 1958,

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 ...

, created the all-women platoon, titled the " Mariana Grajales Women's Squad." The platoon was armed with the lightweight M-1 carbines. The

Mariana Grajales Airport Mariana Grajales Airport is an airport serving Guantánamo, a city in Cuba. It is located near the villages of Paraguay and Las Lajas. The airport is named after Mariana Grajales Cuello. Construction The runway was built during World War II by ...

and

Antonio Maceo Airport Antonio Maceo Airport is an international airport located in Santiago, Cuba. Overview The airport has a drawing of Che Guevara on one of its outside walls. Pope John Paul II flew to this airport during his last visit to Cuba, flying a round trip ...

were dedicated to the memory of Mariana and her sons' contributions to the Cuban struggle.

References

External links

*Escamilla, Luis
Grajales Cuello, Mariana (1808-1893)
at

blackpast.org BlackPast.org is a web-based reference center that is dedicated primarily to the understanding of African-American history and Afro-Caribbean history and the history of people of Sub-Saharan African ancestry. In 2011 the American Library Associati ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grajales Cuello, Mariana 1808 births 1893 deaths Cuban people of Dominican Republic descent People from Santiago de Cuba People of the Ten Years' War Women in 19th-century warfare Women in war in the Caribbean

Service to country

Posthumous recognition

See also

References

External links