Vilma Espin Guillois

Vilma Lucila Espín Guillois (; 7 April 1930 – 18 June 2007) was a Cuban revolutionary, feminist, and chemical engineer. She helped supply and organize the 26th of July Movement as an underground spy, and took an active role in many branches of the Cuban government from the conclusion of the revolution to her death. Espín helped found the Federation of Cuban Women and promoted equal rights for Cuban women in all spheres of life.

As the wife of Raúl Castro and the sister-in-law of Fidel Castro, she was essentially the First Lady of Cuba for about 45 years.

Early life and education Vilma Espín Guillois was born on 7 April 1930, in Santiago de Cuba. She was the daughter of a wealthy Cuban lawyer, Jose Espín and wife Margarita Guillois. She had four siblings, Nilsa, Iván, Sonia and José. Espín attended Academia Pérez-Peña for primary school and studied ballet and singing at the Asociación Pro-Arte Cubano during the 1940s. In the 1950s, she studied chemical engineering at Universidad de Oriente, Santiago de Cuba (one of the first women in Cuba to study this subject). While in college, Espin also met her mentor, Frank Pais, in a university group called the Oriente Revolutionary Action (ARO), which was responsible for the assault on the Moncada barracks. When she finally acquiesced, her brief academic career at MIT left her with even more animosity toward the United States, as she officially joined the 26th of July Movement on her way back to Cuba through Mexico. Pepín Bosch, an executive of the Bacardi Corporation, arranged a meeting between CIA Inspector General Lyman Kirkpatrick and representatives of the 26th of July Movement in 1957. Espín, as both a revolutionary leader and the daughter of a Bacardi executive, told Kirkpatrick that the revolutionaries only wanted "what you Americans have: clean politics and a clean police system." She also held many other roles in the Cuban government, including chair of the Commission for Social Prevention from 1967 to 1971, director of Industrial Development in the Ministry of Food in 1969, president of the Institute of Childcare in 1971, and member of the Cuban Council of State in 1976.

Espín took on the role of Cuba's First Lady for 45 years, initially taking on the role as the sister-in-law to Fidel Castro, who was divorced at the time he came to power. She officially became the First Lady in 2006 when her husband, Raúl Castro, became president.

Espín headed the Cuban Delegation to the Congress of the International Federation of Democratic Women in Chile in September 1959.

Family Espín was married to Raúl Castro, the former First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, who is the brother to former First Secretary Fidel Castro. Their wedding took place in 1959, only weeks after the 26th of July Movement had successfully overthrown dictator Fulgencio Batista. An official mourning-period was declared from 8 p.m. on 18 June until 10 p.m. on 19 June. A funeral ceremony was held at the Karl Marx Theatre in Havana the day after her death. Thousands of Cubans paid their respects in a receiving line at the Plaza of the Revolution in Havana. Raúl Castro was in the receiving line, but Fidel Castro was not present. The Vilma Espín elementary school was opened in Havana in April 2013. Espin founded the Frente Continental de Mujeres Contra la Intervención (Continental Women’s Front Against Intervention, FCMCI) and the Regional Center of the International Democratic Federation of Women for the Americas and Caribbean.