Asela de los Santos

Asela de los Santos Tamayo (10 September 1929 – 23 January 2020) was a Cuban teacher, revolutionary leader and politician. She was a cofounder and the secretary general of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC). She served as Deputy Minister, then First Minister of Education in the government of the Communist Party of Cuba.

Early life De los Santos was born on 10 September 1929 in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.

De los Santos studied to became a teacher at the University of Oriente (now known as the University of Santiago de Cuba).

As a student, de los Santos became politically active against the U.S. aligned Fulgencio Batista dictatorship. She helped the surviving fighters from the Moncada Barracks action and taught soldiers to read.

In November 1956, de los Santos was one of the organisers of an armed action in Santiago de Cuba, then in 1957 transported fighters to join Fidel Castro in the Sierra Maestra mountain range with fellow revolutionaries Celia Sánchez and Vilma Espín.

De los Santos was one of the founder members of the Communist Party of Cuba, served on the Party Central Committee for three terms (1975–1991) and was appointed by Raúl Castro to serve as the Deputy Minister of Education in 1974, then as Minister of Education in 1979. In these roles she played a central part in the national Cuban Literacy Program

With Espín, de los Santos was a cofounder of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), established in 1960, and served as the general secretary of the organisation. In 1960, when sugar mills and cane fields were under attack across Cuba shortly before the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Federation of Cuban Women created the Emergency Medical Response Brigades to mobilize women against counter-revolution.

Marriage De los Santos married José Ramón Fernández, He was awarded the title of Hero of the Republic of Cuba. She was widowed in 2019.

In 2009, de los Santos was awarded with the Order of Playa Girón.

After the death of Fidel Castro in 2016, Raúl Castro appointed her as the Honorary Chair for the Study of the Thought and Work of Fidel Castro, which aimed to "promote the legacy" of the former Cuban leader. Her funeral was presided over by Raúl Castro, then First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, and Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, President of the Republic of Cuba. Her ashes were interred at the Veterans Pantheon in the Colón Necrópolis in Vedado, Havana.