Manuel Ramón Silva Zayas, was a multifaceted, cultured man. Among his multiple gifts (doctor, patriot, constituent, pedagogue, speaker, ruler, politician) is his journalistic work, which can be divided into two stages.
Like father like son
Journalism, like medicine, was a profession inherited from his father, Manuel Ramón Silva Barberí, who directed the first official newspaper of the insurrection in Puerto Príncipe in the Great War, “Tínima”, which began to circulate in the middle of February 1869, but it was short-lived.
“The Truth”, first stage
Already in full blossom, although there are different perceptions according to the sources studied, he was part of the group of editors of the “independent Cuban newspaper” The Truth in a first stage; although his specific role within it could not be identified. The biweekly begins its publication on April 5th, 1889. It had four pages in small format, with material distributed in two columns.
This was fundamentally dedicated to reproducing those military circulars that the mambises newspapers printed during the war, comments on the Ten Years’ War, chronology of military actions and some political notes in which Spain and everything it represented were openly criticized. For this reason, its editors and director were persecuted and forced to use pseudonyms. It was also closed a few weeks after its creation.
The Truth, second stage
Once the war of 1995 was over, the publication of The Truth was resumed, in which it was possible to confirm his role as director at this second moment. The printing and editorial offices were in Las Mercedes Square (currently Workers’ Square), in the same place where the newspaper El Fanal was located. It had four pages of six columns each. Ads were published in the first one and the last one was often filled only with his interests. Information was also disseminated, comments were written, some literature was discussed, it even had a social chronicle section.
However, different treatments are observed in the texts consulted about the course he is taking, since on more than one occasion he argued with the newspaper Las Dos Repúblicas, under the direction of Pedro Mendoza Guerra, which he would later share with Nicolás Guillén Urra, appearing among its main editors Manuel Márquez Sterling.
Conclusions
Approaching the figure of Manuel Ramón Silva Zayas, through his journalism, is also approaching his ideas, the life of a multifaceted man, with multiple gifts that deserves an adequate deepening.
Bibliography
Augier, Ángel. Nicolás Guillén. Notas para un estudio biográfico-crítico. Editora del Consejo Nacional de Universidades, Universidad Central de Las Villas, 1965.
Labrada Rodríguez, Eduardo. La prensa camagüeyana en el siglo XIX. Eidtorial Oriente, Santiago de Cuba, 1987.
Suárez Cedeño, Jorge. Manuel Ramón Silva Zayas (Médico, Polígrafo, Revolucionario y Luchador Antimperialista 1866-1919). Cuadernos de Historia de la Salud Pública, número 44. Publicación del Consejo Científico, Ministerio de Salud Pública, 1967.
Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García
