Guillermo Collazo

Guillermo Collazo Tejada (7 June 1850, Santiago de Cuba - 26 September 1896, Paris) was a Cuban painter and advocate for independence.

Biography Collazo was born into an established colonial family. His artistic talent was noticed at an early age by one of his instructors at school in Santiago. While there, he was also motivated to become an independence fighter following the death by firing squad of one of his cousins at age 17. At the beginning of the Ten Years' War, his parents, aware of his activities and concerned for his safety, hastily put him on board a ship headed for the United States.

Collazo arrived in New York with no resources, speaking no English. Eventually, he found a job touching up and coloring photographs at a small shop in the Bowery. After a short time there, he found work in the studios of Napoleon Sarony, and was able to save enough money to open his own art studio, enjoying great success as a portrait painter.

In 1883 Collazo returned to Cuba, opening a studio in Havana. Five years later, He died in Paris and, in 1899, after the War of Independence, his family brought his remains back to Cuba.