Rubén Martínez Villena

Rubén Agnelio Martínez Villena (December 20, 1899 – January 16, 1934) was a Cuban writer, lawyer, and revolutionary leader. He was the ringleader of the Protest of the Thirteen, the first protest of the Cuban intellectual class since the country had gained its independence, and signed the "Manifesto of the Group of Thirteen." He was also the founder of the Minorista Group, a group of Cuban intellectuals which was called the "Vanguard of the Intelligentsia." He led the 1933 General Strike which in a small part helped to oust Gerardo Machado from power, and died the following year after a long battle with tuberculosis.

Biography GraveVillena's mother was María de los Dolores de Jesús Manuel de Villena y Delmonte, his father was Kuciano Agustín Rogelio Martínez Echemendía.

After graduating from the University of Havana Law School in 1922, Villena worked as a lawyer in the offices of Fernando Ortiz Fernández, and published poetry and short stories in newspapers and magazines from 1917 until the late 1920s.

On March 18, 1923, Villena was the leader of the Protest of the Thirteen, denouncing the government of President Alfredo Zayas for corruption and the sale of the Santa Clara Convent.

In April 1923, Villena created the Cuban Action Phalange.

After meeting Julio Antonio Mella, founder of the Communist Party of Cuba, he got more involved in the socialist struggle in Cuba, against what was seen at the time as neocolonial governments subdued to the United States interests.

In 1925, while working in the law offices of Fernando Ortiz, he was appointed to the position of Legal Adviser to the National Confederation of Workers of Cuba (CNOC). Villena then represented Julio Mella in his trial for "insulting" President Zayas.

During this time, he contracted Tuberculosis.

He died in Havana on June 16, 1934, in La Esperanza Sanatory. His funeral was attended by over 20,000 people.