Julio Antonio Mella
Encyclopedia
Julio Antonio Mella was a founder of the "internationalized" Cuban Communist Party.
Mella studied law in the University of Havana
until he was expelled in 1925 and is considered a hero by the present Cuba
n government. Some Cubans view him as a victim of the Stalin-Trotsky struggle. His biography varies with the source consulted.
Antonio Mella studied secondary studies at Chandler College in Marianao
, Havana
and Colegio Mimó. His father's wife, Mercedes Bermúdez Ferreira, died in 1915, and after visiting the US again in 1917 Mella returned to Cuba. He prepared for the University of Havana
at Academia Newton before being sent to boarding school at the prestigious Escolapios of Guanabacoa, where he was expelled. Mella finished his secondary studies at the public Instituto de la Habana and or Instituto de Segunda Enseñanza of Pinar del Río in 1921 [Instituto de Segunda Enseñanza de Pinar del Río (1921)].
First arrested during the democratic rule (1921–1924) of Alfredo Zayas, Mella attended the University of Havana where his radicalism was further enhanced through his leadership. Students forcibly occupied Havana University and sought power through demands for changes including: the modernization of textbooks, autonomy for the university, free education for all, and more unusually, to be head of the university for one day. Mella was soon involved in the struggle against future Cuban president Gerardo Machado
, and organized the formal founding of the Moscow directed Partido Comunista de Cuba. At this time he was linked to women radicals Rosario Guillaume (Charito), and Sarah Pascual. He was expelled from the University after being arrested and accused of a bomb plot. After being released in late 1925, he eventually fled to Central America in the earlier portion of 1926.
The original "internationalized" Communist Party of Cuba was formed in the 1920s when Gerardo Machado
was president and then dictator.
This organization is said to be related to several fronts including the anti-imperialist league and its anti-clerical analogue.
This party was formally recognized by Moscow in 1925. Contacts with Moscow were said to be made in a street-level restaurant at 687 Compostela street on the corner of Luz street in Havana.
The founders of the Cuban Communist Party are listed as: Julio Antonio Mella, Juan Marinello, Alejandro Barreiro, Carlos Baliño
, Jesús Menéndez, Carlos Rafael Rodríguez
, Lázaro Peña, Blas Roca, Rubén Martínez Villena
, Anibal Escalante, Emilio Roig and Fabio Grobart
.
Fabio Grobart (aka Abraham Semjovitch; Alberto Blanco) was born in Bialystok, Poland, in 1905 and died in Cuba. October 22, 1994. He was a member of the Comintern and often considered a covert Moscow-appointed leader of the Communists in the Caribbean area,. Mella used the pseudonyms Cuauhtémoc Zapata, Kim (El Machete), y Lord McPartland in his writing. Blas Roca was born Francisco Calderío.
Alejandro Barreiro is sometimes considered an anarchist, although the Communist Party of Cuba claims him as their own. Barriero is said to have gone mad in 1929 when Mexican police searched his house and raped his daughters. The various pseudonyms of some of these "actors" often include historical references. For instance Fabio or, in English, Fabian
refers to a Roman consul who used stealthy tactics, and Fabian Socialism was an English socialist movement, to which George Bernard Shaw
belonged, which advocated stealthy democratic change.
The Cuban Communist Party was later renamed the People's Socialist Party for electoral reasons. Its policy was dictated from Moscow. At one time, it supported the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado and would later support Fulgencio Batista
, in whose government Dr. Juan Marinello and Carlos Rafael Rodriguez were ministers without portfolio. Although covert communist support was given to Castro and Che Guevara
in the Sierra Maestra, the overt People's Socialist Party was critical of Fidel Castro
's rise to power until the summer of 1958.
n marxist revolutionary in Mexico
trying to organize the overthrow of the Cuban government of General Gerardo Machado
. This cause was an embarrassment to the Cuban Communist Party which was trying to gain power by establishing a modus vivendi with Machado. What further disturbed the Cuban communists was that they felt he had fallen under Leon Trotsky
’s influence. Mella was assassinated on January 10, 1929, while walking home late at night with photographer Tina Modotti
. The Mexican government tried to implicate Modotti in the murder, even releasing nude photographs of her by Edward Weston
to try and generate public opinion against her. Muralist Diego Rivera
played a very active role in defending her and exposing the Mexican government's crude attempt to frame her, for this crime that the Mexican authorities felt correctly or incorrectly to have involved her. It is unclear whether Mella was murdered by the dictatorial Cuban government, if his death was brought about by Trotsky-Stalin Communist Party feuding, or by combination of these mutual interests. It is widely speculated that he died by the notoriously bloody hand of Vittorio Vidale.
's mural "In the Arsenal.". The extreme right [as you face it] of the mural shows the beautiful photographer and silent film actress Tina Modotti
holding a belt of ammunition. Vidale's face, partly hidden, stares suspiciously from under a black hat, as he peers over her shoulder, while Modotti gazes lovingly at Julio Antonio Mella (shown with light colored hat) a founder of Communist Party of Cuba
.
Given the closeness of Diego Rivera to the people involved some consider this fresco painting to be evidence of Vidale's and Rivera's involvement in Mella's assassination and this work of art is believed by many to relate to Rivera's expulsion from the Mexican Communist Party.
Mella had rejoined the communist party just two weeks prior to his death, although this circumstance like much else related to Vidale is murky.
The Mella assassination illustrates the complexity of those times and demonstrates Vidale and his "manager's" skill at obfuscation and covering his tracks. Officially José Agustín López (said to have no particular political affiliations), was charged with Mella’s murder, but two other known killers, Jose Magriñat and Antonio Sanabría were also suspected. The police investigating this crime were given conflicting eyewitness reports. In one version, Mella and Modotti were walking alone, in another Vidale was said to be walking with Mella and Tina Modotti. Since Mella's wounds were from point blank range, neither Modotti or Vidale were injured, and Modotti gave a false name to the investigators, the police were suspicious of her alibi. Modotti was arrested, but soon released. Magriñat, who had also been arrested was then released. Apparently a loose end, he was ultimately killed in Cuba by “Communists” in 1933 (Albers, 2002).
The official position of the present Cuban government is still that Mella was killed at Gerardo Machado
's orders, but it admits that Tina Modotti was a Stalinist operative who operated in a number of countries. Yet there are some even in Cuba who seem to believe that Vidale did it. Adding to the mystery, according to Abers (2002), both Magriñat, and Diego Rivera
who had just returned from Cuba had warned Mella that he was in danger.
, less than a month in power, broke up a procession to bury his ashes in Havana. Perhaps six people were shot under confused circumstances. There is a small park on Infanta Street, near the José Raúl Capablanca
chess club that commemorates this event
Mella's bust (now replaced by a far larger obelisk) stood in a small park on San Lazaro Avenue slightly east and downhill of Havana University and is the object of much Marxist veneration. Before the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion
, this bust was often blown down at night and could be heard in the silence after the explosion rumbling in a most frightening way as it rolled eastwards. Each time, by next morning it was rapidly restored to its pedestal.
In Caimito
a small town in Artemisa Province
Cuba, there is a camp called Campamento Internacional Julio Antonio Mella honoring Mella. Every year solidarity brigades from all over the world come to Cuba to display their solidarity with Cuban people.
Mella studied law in the University of Havana
University of Havana
The University of Havana or UH is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, Cuba. Founded in 1728, the University of Havana is the oldest university in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas...
until he was expelled in 1925 and is considered a hero by the present Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n government. Some Cubans view him as a victim of the Stalin-Trotsky struggle. His biography varies with the source consulted.
Early life
Mella was born Nicanor McPartland in Havana in 1903. His father was Nicanor Mella Breá (1851–1929), a tailor and son of one of the heroes of the Dominican Republican war of independence, Ramón Matías Mella Castillo. Mella's mother was an Irish woman named Cecilia McPartland, Cecilia was not the wife of Nicanor senior. Mella initially took his name from his father and as a child travelled with his younger brother Cecilio to New Orleans while his mother convalesced from lung troubles. The boys returned to Cuba to live with his father's wife Mercedes Bermúdez Ferreira. Mella changed his name from Nicanor to Antonio and his younger brother became Nicasio Mella.Antonio Mella studied secondary studies at Chandler College in Marianao
Marianao
Marianao is a town and municipality in the province of the city of Havana, Cuba, 6 miles southwest of the original city of Havana, with which it is connected by the Marianao railway. , the municipality had a population of 133,016. Marianao is on a range of hills about 1500 ft. above sea level,...
, Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
and Colegio Mimó. His father's wife, Mercedes Bermúdez Ferreira, died in 1915, and after visiting the US again in 1917 Mella returned to Cuba. He prepared for the University of Havana
University of Havana
The University of Havana or UH is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, Cuba. Founded in 1728, the University of Havana is the oldest university in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas...
at Academia Newton before being sent to boarding school at the prestigious Escolapios of Guanabacoa, where he was expelled. Mella finished his secondary studies at the public Instituto de la Habana and or Instituto de Segunda Enseñanza of Pinar del Río in 1921 [Instituto de Segunda Enseñanza de Pinar del Río (1921)].
First arrested during the democratic rule (1921–1924) of Alfredo Zayas, Mella attended the University of Havana where his radicalism was further enhanced through his leadership. Students forcibly occupied Havana University and sought power through demands for changes including: the modernization of textbooks, autonomy for the university, free education for all, and more unusually, to be head of the university for one day. Mella was soon involved in the struggle against future Cuban president Gerardo Machado
Gerardo Machado
Gerardo Machado y Morales was President of Cuba and a general of the Cuban War of Independence...
, and organized the formal founding of the Moscow directed Partido Comunista de Cuba. At this time he was linked to women radicals Rosario Guillaume (Charito), and Sarah Pascual. He was expelled from the University after being arrested and accused of a bomb plot. After being released in late 1925, he eventually fled to Central America in the earlier portion of 1926.
Foundation of the "internationalized" Cuban Communist Party
Cuba had a number of communist and or anarchist parties, especially in Havana and in the eastern area of Cuba, at least as early as the beginning of the Cuban Republic. Possibly the first was founded in 1906 near Manzanillo by Agustín Martín Veloz (Martinillo)),.The original "internationalized" Communist Party of Cuba was formed in the 1920s when Gerardo Machado
Gerardo Machado
Gerardo Machado y Morales was President of Cuba and a general of the Cuban War of Independence...
was president and then dictator.
This organization is said to be related to several fronts including the anti-imperialist league and its anti-clerical analogue.
This party was formally recognized by Moscow in 1925. Contacts with Moscow were said to be made in a street-level restaurant at 687 Compostela street on the corner of Luz street in Havana.
The founders of the Cuban Communist Party are listed as: Julio Antonio Mella, Juan Marinello, Alejandro Barreiro, Carlos Baliño
Carlos Baliño
Carlos Baliño was born in the Cuban Villa of Guanajay.His early writings were poetry and prose. By 1869 his writings had gained notability for their anti-colonial and pro-independence inclinations; thus placing him at odds with the colonial authorities...
, Jesús Menéndez, Carlos Rafael Rodríguez
Carlos Rafael Rodríguez
Carlos Rafael Rodríguez was a Cuban politician. Born in Cienfuegos, he became mayor of the city when he was only 20. Four years later, he joined the Communist Party and was appointed editor of the party newspaper, Hoy. He graduated from university in 1939...
, Lázaro Peña, Blas Roca, Rubén Martínez Villena
Rubén Martínez Villena
Rubén Martínez Villena was a Cuban writer and revolutionary leader, born on December 20, 1899 in Alquízar, in the La Habana province.-Biography:...
, Anibal Escalante, Emilio Roig and Fabio Grobart
Fabio Grobart
Fabio Grobart was born in Bialystok, Poland August 30, 1905; his birth name was Abraham Grobart aka Abraham Simjovitch. Apparently following orders of the Comintern, during the early 1920s he became a founding member of the Cuban Communist Party...
.
Fabio Grobart (aka Abraham Semjovitch; Alberto Blanco) was born in Bialystok, Poland, in 1905 and died in Cuba. October 22, 1994. He was a member of the Comintern and often considered a covert Moscow-appointed leader of the Communists in the Caribbean area,. Mella used the pseudonyms Cuauhtémoc Zapata, Kim (El Machete), y Lord McPartland in his writing. Blas Roca was born Francisco Calderío.
Alejandro Barreiro is sometimes considered an anarchist, although the Communist Party of Cuba claims him as their own. Barriero is said to have gone mad in 1929 when Mexican police searched his house and raped his daughters. The various pseudonyms of some of these "actors" often include historical references. For instance Fabio or, in English, Fabian
Fabius Maximus
Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator was a Roman politician and general, born in Rome around 280 BC and died in Rome in 203 BC. He was Roman Consul five times and was twice Dictator in 221 and again in 217 BC. He reached the office of Roman Censor in 230 BC...
refers to a Roman consul who used stealthy tactics, and Fabian Socialism was an English socialist movement, to which George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
belonged, which advocated stealthy democratic change.
The Cuban Communist Party was later renamed the People's Socialist Party for electoral reasons. Its policy was dictated from Moscow. At one time, it supported the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado and would later support Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
, in whose government Dr. Juan Marinello and Carlos Rafael Rodriguez were ministers without portfolio. Although covert communist support was given to Castro and Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
in the Sierra Maestra, the overt People's Socialist Party was critical of Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
's rise to power until the summer of 1958.
Mexico
After being expelled from the University of Havana, then arrested and released, Mella fled Machado's repression in Cuba. He escaped through Cienfuegos, Cuba, reaching Honduras in 1926, then Guatemala and from there, Mexico. In Mexico, he wrote for a number of newspapers: Cuba Libre, El Libertador, Tren Blindado ("The Armored Train", a Trotskyist symbol ), El Machete and the Boletín del Torcedor (which is published in Havana).Death
At the time of his death he was a CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n marxist revolutionary in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
trying to organize the overthrow of the Cuban government of General Gerardo Machado
Gerardo Machado
Gerardo Machado y Morales was President of Cuba and a general of the Cuban War of Independence...
. This cause was an embarrassment to the Cuban Communist Party which was trying to gain power by establishing a modus vivendi with Machado. What further disturbed the Cuban communists was that they felt he had fallen under Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
’s influence. Mella was assassinated on January 10, 1929, while walking home late at night with photographer Tina Modotti
Tina Modotti
Tina Modotti was an Italian photographer, model, actress, and revolutionary political activist.- Early life :Modotti was born Assunta Adelaide Luigia Modotti Mondini in Udine, Friuli, Italy...
. The Mexican government tried to implicate Modotti in the murder, even releasing nude photographs of her by Edward Weston
Edward Weston
Edward Henry Weston was a 20th century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers…" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his forty-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of...
to try and generate public opinion against her. Muralist Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
played a very active role in defending her and exposing the Mexican government's crude attempt to frame her, for this crime that the Mexican authorities felt correctly or incorrectly to have involved her. It is unclear whether Mella was murdered by the dictatorial Cuban government, if his death was brought about by Trotsky-Stalin Communist Party feuding, or by combination of these mutual interests. It is widely speculated that he died by the notoriously bloody hand of Vittorio Vidale.
The Mystery of the Murder of Julio Mella
Many political murders, often of communist backsliders and other "heretics" such as Trotskyists, have been attributed to Vidale's "bloody hand." Outside of Cuba, the murder of Julio Mella is commonly believed to be one of them. The love triangle of Mella, Vidale and Modotti is immortalized in Diego RiveraDiego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
's mural "In the Arsenal.". The extreme right [as you face it] of the mural shows the beautiful photographer and silent film actress Tina Modotti
Tina Modotti
Tina Modotti was an Italian photographer, model, actress, and revolutionary political activist.- Early life :Modotti was born Assunta Adelaide Luigia Modotti Mondini in Udine, Friuli, Italy...
holding a belt of ammunition. Vidale's face, partly hidden, stares suspiciously from under a black hat, as he peers over her shoulder, while Modotti gazes lovingly at Julio Antonio Mella (shown with light colored hat) a founder of Communist Party of Cuba
Communist Party of Cuba
The Communist Party of Cuba is the governing political party in Cuba. It is a communist party of the Marxist-Leninist model. The Cuban constitution ascribes the role of the Party to be the "leading force of society and of the state"...
.
Given the closeness of Diego Rivera to the people involved some consider this fresco painting to be evidence of Vidale's and Rivera's involvement in Mella's assassination and this work of art is believed by many to relate to Rivera's expulsion from the Mexican Communist Party.
Mella had rejoined the communist party just two weeks prior to his death, although this circumstance like much else related to Vidale is murky.
The Mella assassination illustrates the complexity of those times and demonstrates Vidale and his "manager's" skill at obfuscation and covering his tracks. Officially José Agustín López (said to have no particular political affiliations), was charged with Mella’s murder, but two other known killers, Jose Magriñat and Antonio Sanabría were also suspected. The police investigating this crime were given conflicting eyewitness reports. In one version, Mella and Modotti were walking alone, in another Vidale was said to be walking with Mella and Tina Modotti. Since Mella's wounds were from point blank range, neither Modotti or Vidale were injured, and Modotti gave a false name to the investigators, the police were suspicious of her alibi. Modotti was arrested, but soon released. Magriñat, who had also been arrested was then released. Apparently a loose end, he was ultimately killed in Cuba by “Communists” in 1933 (Albers, 2002).
The official position of the present Cuban government is still that Mella was killed at Gerardo Machado
Gerardo Machado
Gerardo Machado y Morales was President of Cuba and a general of the Cuban War of Independence...
's orders, but it admits that Tina Modotti was a Stalinist operative who operated in a number of countries. Yet there are some even in Cuba who seem to believe that Vidale did it. Adding to the mystery, according to Abers (2002), both Magriñat, and Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
who had just returned from Cuba had warned Mella that he was in danger.
Funeral and symbolism
On September 29, 1933 the troops of Fulgencio BatistaFulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
, less than a month in power, broke up a procession to bury his ashes in Havana. Perhaps six people were shot under confused circumstances. There is a small park on Infanta Street, near the José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play...
chess club that commemorates this event
Mella's bust (now replaced by a far larger obelisk) stood in a small park on San Lazaro Avenue slightly east and downhill of Havana University and is the object of much Marxist veneration. Before the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
, this bust was often blown down at night and could be heard in the silence after the explosion rumbling in a most frightening way as it rolled eastwards. Each time, by next morning it was rapidly restored to its pedestal.
In Caimito
Caimito, Cuba
Caimito is a municipality and town in Artemisa Province of Cuba.It was founded in 1910.-Demographics:In 2004, the municipality of Caimito had a population of 36,813...
a small town in Artemisa Province
Artemisa Province
Artemisa Province is one of two new provinces in Cuba, which creation was approved by the Cuban National Assembly by splitting former La Habana Province.Artemisa was the largest city and municipality of the former La Habana province...
Cuba, there is a camp called Campamento Internacional Julio Antonio Mella honoring Mella. Every year solidarity brigades from all over the world come to Cuba to display their solidarity with Cuban people.
See also
- History of CubaHistory of CubaThe known history of Cuba, the largest of the Caribbean islands, predates Christopher Columbus' sighting of the island during his first voyage of discovery on 27 October 1492...
- Communist Party of CubaCommunist Party of CubaThe Communist Party of Cuba is the governing political party in Cuba. It is a communist party of the Marxist-Leninist model. The Cuban constitution ascribes the role of the Party to be the "leading force of society and of the state"...