José Jacinto Milanés

José Jacinto Milanés y Fuentes (born August 16, 1814 Matanzas Cuba – November 14, 1863), a self-educated and from humble origins, was a poet, linguist and writer who has been acclaimed as one of the best exponents of Cuban literature with the publication of his magnum opus El Conde Alarcos (The Count Alarcos). Milanés is also considered the best playwright of Cuba. Some of his other works include El poeta en la Corte, Por el puente o por el río, and A buena hambre no hay pan duro.

Life

José Jacinto Milanés was born into a poor family. His mother's name was Rita Fuentes, and his father was Álvaro Milanés, a peasant at the Real Hacienda. From an early age, during his elementary school years, José Jacinto Milanés showed an impressive talent in literature. His father, despite the poor means of living, presented him with a gift, which was a book titled El tesoro del parnaso Español (The Treasure of the Spanish Parnassus), a compilation of poems authored by the poet Manuel José Quintana. Milanés's brother said upon remembering the event that: "He received the gift with tears of happiness" From that moment forward, Milanés devoted himself to read many works of classic literature and poetry. Among the authors he read copiously were such figures as Lope de Vega and Calderón de la Barca. When he was twelve years of age, Milanés was reading in both English and French languages, and he started taking Latin language classes with Professor Guerra Betancourt. Milanés mastered the Latin language in such a way, that whenever Betancourt needed to travel outside Matanzas, he would appoint his apprentice José Jacinto Milanés to be in charge of the entire class. Shortly after, through the friendship with Domingo del Monte and the influence that Del Monte exerted in the city, Milanés was able to start working at a railway station as a secretary. A job position which would allow him to improve his living conditions considerably.

In 1838 the autodidactic skills he was endowed with, along with the studies that later fomented his literary career, paid off tremendously. His masterpiece "El Conde Alarcos" was published that same year. In the words of his longtime friend but literary critic nonetheless, Domingo del Monte, who was quoted saying after the publication of the book, that it was "the first writing in Cuba by a Cuban… in which genius is discovered."("el primer escrito en Cuba por un Cubano… en que se descubre ingenio").