Mariblanca Sabas Alomá

Mariblanca Sabas Alomá (February 10, 1901 – July 19, 1983) was a Cuban feminist, journalist and poet. A political activist, she was also a Minister without portfolio[1] in the Cuban government under Ramón Grau and Carlos Prio. Her writing was devoted to the cause of women's rights, particularly the right to vote.

Mariblanca Sabas Alomá
Born	Mariblanca Sabas Alomá (1901-02-10)February 10, 1901 Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
Died	July 19, 1983(1983-07-19) (aged 82)

Early life

She was born in Santiago de Cuba in 1901. Her parents were Francisco Sabas Castillo and Belén Alomá Ciarlos. She studied at University of Havana, Columbia University and University of Puerto Rico.[2] A founding member of the Grupo Minorista, she also served as president of the Partido Democrata Sufragista, and editor of La Mujer.[3] She wrote columns in the leftist periodicals, Social and Carteles.[4] For Carteles, she wrote a series of homophobic articles in 1928 on female homosexuality, identifying lesbianism as a social disease.[5] She also wrote for Bohemia and Avance (1920s-1930s), in 1930 she published a book titled Feminismo - Cuestiones Sociales - Critica Literarea and founded the magazine Astral (1922). Her poetry won two gold medals in 1923 at Juegos Florales in Santiago de Cuba.[3] In 1919, following the death of her parents, she moved to Havana. In 1923, Sabas Alomá attended the first Congreso Nacional de Mujeres de Cuba.[5]

"I consider it an honor to have been imprisoned for fighting for the good of my country. And some of the very best people in Cuba were in jail at that time so I was in good company." (1949)

[6]

Later life

After working for several newspapers and journals between 1924–27, She took time off from her journalistic career to pursue art and literature studies in Mexico, at Columbia University and at the University of Puerto Rico. After her return to Havana, she worked on a regular basis for the Carteles. Her writing were critical of the bourgeois (the social elite) and considered them as contributing to the suffering of majority of women. She was given the epithet "Red Feminist" for her writings in the Carteles because of her strong feminist perspective and her leftist leanings.[3] In her writings, she protested against the stereotyping of feminists, defended nudity, rejected elitism, and argued for the radical revision of masculinity and femininity categories.[7] She served as a Minister without portfolio in 1949.[6]

References

1. Hilton, Ronald (1951). Who's Who in Latin America: Part VII, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Haiti. Stanford University Press. pp. 45–. ISBN 978-0-8047-0757-2. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
2. Martin, Percy Alvin; Cardozo, Manoel; Hilton, Ronald (1951). Who's who in Latin America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of Latin America. University Press. p. 45. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
3. K. L. Stoner (9 May 1991). From the House to the Streets: The Cuban Woman’s Movement for Legal Reform, 1898–1940. Duke University Press. pp. 89–90. ISBN 978-0-8223-1149-2. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
4. Pérez, Lisandro; Aragón, Uva de (1 March 2004). Cuban Studies. University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 84–. ISBN 978-0-8229-7080-4. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
5. Balderston, Daniel; Guy, Donna Jay (1997). Sex and Sexuality in Latin America. New York University Press. pp. 174, 187–. ISBN 978-0-8147-1290-0. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
6. Mayer, Ben (January 23, 1949). "Cuban Senorita Makes Good as Cabinet Minister". Spartanburg Herald-Journal.
7. Unruh, Vicky (2009-06-03). Performing Women and Modern Literary Culture in Latin America. University of Texas Press. pp. 137–. ISBN 978-0-292-77374-5. Retrieved 27 April 2013.

External links

• Zaida Capote Cruz (18 October 2011). "¿Por qué La Habana no está en la esquina de mi casa? Cartas de Juana de Ibarbourou a Mariblanca Sabas Alomá (II)". Cubaliteraria. Retrieved 12 July 2013.