Fayad Jamís (1930–1988) was a

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

n poet, painter, designer, journalist and translator. He was born in

Zacatecas Zacatecas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Zacatecas, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 31 states of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Zacatecas, 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas City, Zacatec ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

to a Lebanese-Cuban father and a Mexican mother. Moving to Cuba at the age of six, Jamis trained at the San Alexandro Academy before gaining renown as an abstract painter. He was a member of the

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

group of Cuban painters known as " Las Once" ("The Eleven"). Jamís lived in Paris in the 1950s, and attended the Sorbonne. The surrealist writer Andre Breton was a supporter of his work, and he co-exhibited with the sculptor Agustin Cardenas. Jamis returned to Cuba in 1959 and became involved in a wide range of activities including teaching, painting, and writing. He served as cultural attache in the Cuban embassy in Mexico for over a decade. Jamis received the

Casa de las Américas Casa de las Américas is an organization that was founded by the Cuban Government in April 1959, four months after the Cuban Revolution, for the purpose of developing and extending the socio-cultural relations with the countries of Latin America, ...

prize for his book ''Por Esta Libertad'' (''For This Liberty''). His paintings can be seen in collections in Cuba and abroad. He often used pseudonyms such as Fernando Moro, Onirio Estrada or the initials F.J.N. Jamis died in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Havana Vieja Old Havana () is the city-center (downtown) and one of the 15 municipalities (or boroughs) forming Havana, Cuba. It has the second highest population density in the city and contains the core of the original city of Havana. The positions of the ...

References

External links

Fayad Jamis Collection
at the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Jamis, Fayad 1930 births 1988 deaths Cuban painters 20th-century Cuban poets Cuban male poets People from Havana Artists from Zacatecas Writers from Zacatecas Mexican people of Cuban descent Cuban people of Mexican descent Mexican people of Lebanese descent Cuban people of Lebanese descent 20th-century Mexican male writers Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro alumni