By: MSc. Kezia Zabrina Henry Knight
The beginning
On November 20th, 1864, the Santa Cecilia Philharmonic Society was established in the former Puerto Príncipe at the then Phoenix Theater. The first president with 39 votes in his favor was Fernando Betancourt y Betancourt. The regulations were approved by the Lieutenant Governor of the Department, Mr. Casimiro de la Muela. This allowed the inauguration of the organization on the 22nd of the same month and year, the day of Santa Cecilia, in the Phoenix Theater itself.
On that day, for the inaugural speech, the name was changed “… because since before there had been another social institution in the city called the Philharmonic Society, it was considered prudent to modify it, to avoid confusion.”
The internal functioning allowed the self-organization of sections of Music, Literature and Sciences and Declamation; while in 1867 the newspaper El Popular was founded, directed by Mr. Antenor Lescano.
The normal course of the association was interrupted in the months of October and November 1868, as the beginning of the Ten Years War altered the activities due to the increased number of people who cancelled their membership, especially when the Chief of Police Manuel Anduiza, following orders of the Governor Commander General ordered to close the institution. In 1870, the Spanish Casino was the beneficiary of the institutions: the Philharmonic and La Popular, the latter’s premises were established as the Theater of the Spanish Casino.
After 2 years and 8 months of the death in combat of the distinguished Major General Ignacio Agramonte y Loynaz, against the Spanish colonial regime in the fields of Jimagüayú, on May 11th, 1873, and the next day, with the outrageous disappearance of his remains in the General Cemetery of Puerto Príncipe, a pattern of behavior of the Spanish domain before the symbols of counter-hegemony and emancipation. On January 3th, 1876, the Santa Cecilia association was reorganized in a strange way, with the presence of its guests, the directors and members of the Spanish Casinos of Camagüey and Nuevitas.
However, the documents stored in the Provincial Historical Archive of Camagüey (AHPC, by its acronym in Spanish), mark August 31st, 1882 as the official reestablishment of the institution, approved by the Provincial Government of Camagüey under the Association Law of the Spanish Code of 1876. While, the AHPC Register of Associations recognizes the second one as its definitive date of foundation, the truth is that the historical documents of the time and in the watermarks of the minutes the initial date is the year 1864.
In this sense, Mr. José Carnesoltas, in 1882 from his home, took the initiative to restructure this association that had declined due to a lack of contributing members. The fundamental purpose from its beginnings was to promote progress, education and development of the country. The founders in the second stage of its development were: Felipe Sebrango, director; Antonio Gonzales Novell, treasurer; Manuel Ramón de Socarrás, secretary; Teófilo Jiménez and Francisco Javier Batista as councilors.
A change
It was not until February 24th, 1899 that the halls of Santa Cecilia were made available for celebrations of a patriotic profile, commemorating El Grito de Baire. This institution, in the context of the educational and recreation associations of the city, stands out for its educational practices from its own classrooms to classes with a broad theoretical and physical profile. It also stood out because of its formative artistic actions and powerful stage projection.
The city in this context recognizes that all art manifestations were developed by promoting exchanges with local, national and international artists as well. Orchestras, dramatic and comedy theater companies, zarzuelas, declaimers, soloists, among other formats and genres, permeated its members with good taste and artistic appreciation.
In the same way, mutual aid was part of the approved statutes that characterized its actions, not only to its members, but also to their families as well as charity works on specific dates and events: layettes, natural disasters, foundation of the town, among others.
Ignacio Agramonte and the Distinguish Popular Santa Cecilia …
President Raúl Lamar Salomón, who since 1902 was consecutively selected, in 1908, honors not only the association, but also the city with its initiatives and pertinent behaviors.
November 22 stands out as the beginning of the preparations to perpetuate the memory of Bayardo in a singular way. So, La Marsellesa, zarzuela performed by young people of both sexes in the halls of Santa Cecilia, was the motivation for its successes for its replacement in the Principal Theater, where the proceeds were instituted as a fund for the monument to El Mayor: $ 635.00 USA currency, $ 226.84 Spanish gold and $ 538.67 Spanish silver.
By the year 1910, in the month of May, before institutions and personalities of the city the commission that would promote the statue of Ignacio Agramonte y Loynaz was formed. Precisely the Distinguish Popular Santa Cecilia association, with its president, Raúl Lamar, launched an international competition for a bronze monument that would perpetuate the image-essence of Major Ignacio Agramonte. The sculpture is of unprecedented scope, made by mastery from aesthetic and symbolic points of view by the Italian sculptor: Salvadore Buemi.
Historical coincidences allowed a son of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, the Father of the Nation, of the same name C. M. de Céspedes y de Quesada, son of Ana de Quesada. At the time, he was ambassador to Italy and upon learning of the contest he established relations of friendship with master sculptors of that country.
He visited studios-workshops, among them that of Salvatore Buemi in Villa Borghese, to whom he made suggestions for the image to have a “more Cuban” spirit. This artist, docile to the suggestions of a son of one of the greatest liberators of the Cuban nation, was the winner. He used bronze and marble as a support on a red granite base.
The opening
On February 24th, 1912, at 8 in the morning, Raúl Lamar accompanied by the directive of the association, local and national personalities, but especially the entire town, sang the chords of the National Anthem by the Band of the General Barracks under the baton of Mambí captain José Marín Varona.
The hero’s widow, Amalia Simoni, unveiled the equestrian sculpture, and the vocal Walfredo Rodríguez delivered the speech on behalf of the association. The Major Agramonte monument, in neoclassical style, a happy result of the Santa Cecilia contest, dignifies the most important city center in the urban grid, the park of the same name. The Hero with the raised saber still calls: “May our cry be forever: Independence or Death! … ”
The social space …
The building that identifies this association is one of the most significant for its eclectic style architectural enhancement located in one of the main centers of the city: the old Merced Square (name acquired by the church that presides over this environment) today also known as the Workers Square. Its construction began in 1926 and ended in 1928 under the projects of the architect José Salvador Acosta O ’Bryan.
The front and side facades start with a basket-handle arch that gives access to the interior of the building in a distinguished way. It is followed by an arcade made up of five semicircular arches, all supported by pilasters that end in Doric capitals.
The main façade shows, in the upper part, forming the parapet, the shield of the city conferred on the Villa by Fernando VII in 1817. However, what characterizes the building is the semicircular angle where both facades meet. It is presided over by a basket-handle arch, which supports two levels topped by a parapet that accentuates the movement of the forms, and allows the gaze to stop at the lookout tower whose dome draws the attention of every spectator.
The balustrades underline the upper levels, located on the parapet and on the balcony and window railings. The recesses and projections caused by the pilasters and openings with an all-wood carpentry and glass lights give it a beauty and a unique rhythm in the city’s framework.
On the ground floor, the wide marble steps invite you to enter, large lounges, decorated mosaic floors and an imposing staircase also made of Carrara marble with iron bars decorated with artistic mastery seal the exquisite taste.
The splendor in all the visual magnitude of the building is somewhat eclipsed decades later when a two-level art deco-style construction is erected, today the Radio Cadena Agramonte station, which prevents the entire building unit from being observed. Despite the visual conflict established with this irruption, the social space of the former Santa Cecilia remains one of the attractive symbols of the city’s built heritage.
Present…
The Office of the Historian of Camagüey city completely restored this building deteriorated by time. The current Santa Cecilia Convention Center, by giving it more than its structural and architectural values and equipping it with technological equipment adjusted to the most advanced requirements, is deservedly chosen for the development of important conclaves of technical, social and humanistic sciences, among other forms of academic practices in the country.
Bibliography
(S/A) 1921. Notas históricas de la Benemérita sociedad Santa Cecilia de Camagüey. Compañía impresora de Camagüey. Independencia 24.
Henry Knight, Kezia Zabrina (2007) “La imagen del Mayor en la plástica”,en revista Senderos, Edición especial, Oficina del Historiador de la ciudad de Camagüey, pp. 14-22.
Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García
