“This Day in Cuban History”

02/27/2020   A publication of the Cuban Studies Institute

Dear Friend: For the past two years the Cuban Studies Institute (CSI) has published “This Day in Cuban History*,” short vignettes in Spanish/English, bringing to your attention important, interesting events and individuals in the history of the island.  We hope this has contributed both to your enjoyment and to learning about Cuban history. We now begin a new series of weekly publications “Cuban Institutions and Groups” highlighting the principal political, economic, social and cultural organizations that developed during Cuba’s colonial and national period. Following is the next issue in this new series. CUBAN INSTITUTIONS AND GROUPS   Academia de San Alejandro Institution founded in Old Havana in 1818 as an art and craftsmanship school by the Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País, at the recommendation of Intendant Alejandro Ramírez.  Its first director was Jean Baptiste Vermay, a Bonapartist exile who had opened an art school in Havana the year before.  It did not prosper financially and became a government institution in 1863.  Camilo Cuyas became its first Cuban-born director in 1833.  Since Miguel Melero, appointed in 1878, the director has always been Cuban.  It was revitalized and expanded during Enrique José Varona’s educational reorganization as the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes.  The Escuela Elemental de Artes Plásticas was annexed to the “San Alejandro” (still its popular name) in the 1940s.

Continue Reading This is a publication of the Cuban Studies Institute.  Our mailing address is: 1500 South Dixie Highway, Bank of America Bldg., 2nd Floor Coral Gables, FL  33146 Tel: 786-803-8007