Vilma Espín Guillois
Encyclopedia
Vilma Lucila Espín Guillois (April 7, 1930 – June 18, 2007) was a Cuba
n revolutionary
, feminist
and chemical engineer. She was married to Raúl Castro
, the current Cuban President
, who is the brother to former Cuban President
Fidel Castro
. Espín had four children (Deborah - married to Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja -, Mariela, Nilsa and Alejandro Castro Espín) and seven grandchildren. Her daughter, Mariela Castro
, currently heads the Cuban National Center for Sex Education
, and her son, Alejandro Castro Espín
, the possible successor as head of the Cuban regime. Espín was often described as "Cuba's First Lady".
, was the daughter of a lawyer
for the Bacardi
family, Jose Espín and wife Margarita Guillois. She had four siblings, Nilsa, Iván, Sonia and José. In the 1950s, she studied chemical engineering at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts
before meeting revolutionary leader Frank País
in Havana. The meeting led Espín to become a leader of the revolutionary movement in Oriente province. Espín acted as a messenger between the movement and Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement
, which had been relocated to Mexico
in order to plan a future invasion. It was in Mexico that Espín met Raúl Castro. She then went on to assist the revolutionaries in the Sierra Maestra
mountains after the 26th of July Movement's return to Cuba on the Granma yacht
. She and Raúl married in January 1959.
from its foundation in 1960 until her death. The organization is a recognized non-government organization which claims a membership of more than three and a half million women, and is generally recognised as a Quango
or GONGO
. Espín was also a member of the Council of State of Cuba, as well as a member of the Central Committee
and the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba
from 1980 to 1991.
Espín headed the Cuban Delegation to the First Latin American Congress on Women and Children in Chile in September 1959. She also headed the Cuban delegations to the Conferences on Women held in Mexico
, Copenhagen
, Nairobi
and Beijing
.
at 4:14 p.m. EDT on June 18, 2007, following a long illness. An official mourning-period was declared from 8 p.m. on June 18 until 10 p.m. on June 19. Her body was cremated, and her remains rest in the "II Frente Frank País" Mausoleum.
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 revolutionary
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
, feminist
Socialist feminism
Socialist feminism is a branch of feminism that focuses upon both the public and private spheres of a woman's life and argues that liberation can only be achieved by working to end both the economic and cultural sources of women's oppression...
and chemical engineer. She was married to Raúl Castro
Raúl Castro
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is a Cuban politician and revolutionary who has been President of the Council of State of Cuba and the President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba since 2008; he previously exercised presidential powers in an acting capacity from 2006 to 2008...
, the current Cuban President
President of Cuba
--209.174.31.28 18:43, 22 November 2011 The President of Cuba is the Head of state of Cuba. According to the Cuban Constitution of 1976, the President is the chief executive of the Council of State of Cuba...
, who is the brother to former Cuban President
President of Cuba
--209.174.31.28 18:43, 22 November 2011 The President of Cuba is the Head of state of Cuba. According to the Cuban Constitution of 1976, the President is the chief executive of the Council of State of Cuba...
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...
. Espín had four children (Deborah - married to Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja -, Mariela, Nilsa and Alejandro Castro Espín) and seven grandchildren. Her daughter, Mariela Castro
Mariela Castro
Mariela Castro Espín is the director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education in Havana and an activist for LGBT rights in Cuba....
, currently heads the Cuban National Center for Sex Education
Cuban National Center for Sex Education
The National Center for Sex Education is a government-funded body in Cuba. The center is best known for advocating tolerance of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and transgender issues on the island...
, and her son, Alejandro Castro Espín
Alejandro Castro Espín
Alejandro Castro Espín is a Cuban political and military figure. He has the rank of colonel in the Interior Ministry of Cuba...
, the possible successor as head of the Cuban regime. Espín was often described as "Cuba's First Lady".
Role in the Cuban revolution
Espín, from Santiago de CubaSantiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city of Cuba and capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in the south-eastern area of the island, some south-east of the Cuban capital of Havana....
, was the daughter of a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
for the Bacardi
Bacardi
Bacardi is a family-controlled spirits company, best known as a producer of rums, including Bacardi Superior and Bacardi 151. The company sells in excess of 200 million bottles per year in nearly 100 countries...
family, Jose Espín and wife Margarita Guillois. She had four siblings, Nilsa, Iván, Sonia and José. In the 1950s, she studied chemical engineering at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
before meeting revolutionary leader Frank País
Frank País
Frank País was a Cuban revolutionary who campaigned for the overthrow of General Fulgencio Batista's government in Cuba...
in Havana. The meeting led Espín to become a leader of the revolutionary movement in Oriente province. Espín acted as a messenger between the movement and Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement
26th of July Movement
The 26th of July Movement was the revolutionary organization planned and led by Fidel Castro that in 1959 overthrew the Fulgencio Batista government in Cuba...
, which had been relocated to 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...
in order to plan a future invasion. It was in Mexico that Espín met Raúl Castro. She then went on to assist the revolutionaries in the Sierra Maestra
Sierra Maestra
Sierra Maestra is a mountain range that runs westward across the south of the old Oriente Province from what is now Guantánamo Province to Niquero in southeast Cuba, rising abruptly from the coast. Some view it as a series of connecting ranges , which joins with others extending to the west...
mountains after the 26th of July Movement's return to Cuba on the Granma yacht
Granma (yacht)
Granma is the yacht that was used to transport 82 fighters of the Cuban Revolution from Mexico to Cuba in 1956 for the purpose of overthrowing the regime of Fulgencio Batista. The 60-foot diesel-powered cabin cruiser was built in 1943 and designed to accommodate 12 people...
. She and Raúl married in January 1959.
Role in the Cuban government
Espín was President of the Federation of Cuban WomenFederation of Cuban Women
The Federation of Cuban Women was established in 1960 under the revolutionary government with Vilma Espín as its president. Espin fought in the Sierra Maestras with Fidel Castro and Raul Castro and married Raul in 1959. She was the president of the FMC till her death in 2007. From its inception...
from its foundation in 1960 until her death. The organization is a recognized non-government organization which claims a membership of more than three and a half million women, and is generally recognised as a Quango
Quango
Quango or qango is an acronym used notably in the United Kingdom, Ireland and elsewhere to label an organisation to which government has devolved power...
or GONGO
GONGO
GONGO stands for Government-Organized Non-Governmental Organization, which may have been set up by governments to look like NGOs in order to qualify for outside aid, or mitigate specific issues related to in-country work or international relations...
. Espín was also a member of the Council of State of Cuba, as well as a member of the Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
and the Political Bureau of the 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"...
from 1980 to 1991.
Espín headed the Cuban Delegation to the First Latin American Congress on Women and Children in Chile in September 1959. She also headed the Cuban delegations to the Conferences on Women held 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...
, Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
and Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
.
Death
Espín died in HavanaHavana
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...
at 4:14 p.m. EDT on June 18, 2007, following a long illness. An official mourning-period was declared from 8 p.m. on June 18 until 10 p.m. on June 19. Her body was cremated, and her remains rest in the "II Frente Frank País" Mausoleum.