Ángel José Arango Rodriguez (March 25, 1926 – February 19, 2013), better known as Ángel Arango, was a

Cuban Cuban or Cubans may refer to: Related to Cuba * of or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban Americ ...

writer of

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

. A pioneer of the genre, he was considered its leading exponent on the island.

Biography

Ángel Arango was a Doctor of Civil Law at the

University of Havana The University of Havana (UH; ) is a public university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Founded on 5 January 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas. Originall ...

, where he specialized in

aviation law Aviation law is the branch of law that concerns flight, air travel, and associated legal and business concerns. Some of its area of concern overlaps that of admiralty law and, in many cases, aviation law is considered a matter of internationa ...

. In this capacity, he published several articles in journals serving arbitrators and expert legal consultants from the

International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

. He was a member of the Ibero-American Institute of Aeronautical and Space Law in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, but throughout his life worked at the Institute of Civil Aeronautics of Cuba. Arango began his career as a realist writer, but later devoted himself to the genre of science fiction. He was one of the three founding fathers of modern sci-fi in Cuba along with Oscar Hurtado (1919-1977) and Miguel Collazo (1936-1999). In 1964, Arango published his first collection of science fiction tales, titled ''Where Do the Celphalhoms Go?'' which, along with ''The Dead City Korad'' by Hurtado and ''The Fantastic Book of Oaj'' by Collazo, marked the creation of the sci-fi genre in Cuba. During the late 1960s, Arango published two more works, ''The Black Planet'' and ''Robotomachy''. In 1982, he published the novel ''Transparency'', which further develops the concept and setting underlying ''Where Do the Celphalhoms Go?'' This novel inaugurated a series that includes ''Situation'' (1984) and ''Sider'' (1994), in which the author explored a basic premise – in his words, to "contemplate, albeit hypothetically, the process of the truth in a more advanced stage of civilization". Arango died before his last novel, ''Spinal Bifida'', was published.

Work

*''Where Do the Celphalhoms Go?'' (Tales), Notebooks R, 1964. *''The Black Planet'' (Tales), Dragon collection, Art and Literature, 1966. *''Robotomaquia'' (Tales), Union Releases, 1967. *''The End of the Chaos Comes Quietly'' (Tales), Union Releases, 1971. *''The Creatures'' (Tales), Cuban Lyrics, 1978. *''The Rainbow Monkey'' (Tales), Collection Radar No. 17, Cuban Letters, 1980. *''Transparency'' (Novel), Union Releases, 1982. *''Economic Situation'' (Novel), Union Releases, 1984. *''Sider'' (Novel), Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, 1994. *''Spinal Bifida'' (Novel), Forthcoming.

Sources

*"Angel Arango." Angel Arango. Locus Publications, 1 Mar. 2013. Web. 29 May 2013. *"SFE: The Science Fiction Encyclopedia." Authors : Arango, Ángel : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia. N.p., 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 29 May 2013. *Spinola, Gerardo C. "Guaicán Literario: Angel Arango." Guaicán Literario: Angel Arango. N.p., 17 June 2000. Web. 29 May 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Arango, Angel Cuban science fiction writers 1926 births 2013 deaths University of Havana alumni 20th-century Cuban lawyers