Cuban intellectual giant Eduardo Torres Cuevas passes away in Havana

Image via the PCC

Via the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), translated from the Spanish

In the early hours of August 31, Professor Eduardo Torres Cuevas, a dedicated revolutionary and tireless worker, a member of the Communist Party of Cuba, Director of the Martí Program Office, and President of the José Martí Cultural Society, died in Havana. This esteemed Cuban intellectual was also a member of the Cuban Academy of History and led the Interdisciplinary Center for the Development of Social Sciences, Casa de Altos Estudios Don Fernando Ortiz, at the University of Havana. He also served as the President of the Alliance Française de Cuba.

Torres Cuevas was born in Havana on September 4, 1942. At the age of 16, in 1959, he became involved in the revolutionary transformation process as a militiaman and a literacy teacher. He graduated as a professor of Philosophy at the University of Havana in 1969, the same year he began his teaching career at this prestigious institution. He earned a degree in History in 1973. He held a Doctorate in Historical Sciences, was a Professor at the University of Havana, and served as a Principal Investigator. Additionally, he taught at other universities within the country, lectured at numerous study centers abroad, and participated in numerous academic events both in Cuba and internationally.

Deputy to the National Assembly for the municipality of Santiago de Cuba from 2008 until his death, he was a Member of the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba between 2019 and 2023.

As part of his diverse intellectual pursuits, Torres Cuevas was a full member of the Cuban Academy of Language, Director of the Imagen Contemporánea publishing house, of the Don Fernando Ortiz House of Higher Studies of the University of Havana, and Director of the magazine Debates Americanos. He founded and presided over the Voltaire Chair of academic collaboration between the University of Havana and the French embassy in Cuba, and was President of the Interdisciplinary Chair of Historical Studies of Cuban Freemasonry Vicente Antonio de Castro, of the Don Fernando Ortiz House of Higher Studies.

Between 2007 and 2019 he was Director of the José Martí National Library of Cuba and of its journal.

In his long and fruitful intellectual career, Professor Torres Cuevas maintained a special attachment to the University of Havana. He was a dedicated researcher of the development of the Cuban nation and the evolution of thought and political ideas in our country.

The merits of his extraordinary scientific research work led him to be a member of the National Commission of Scientific Degrees of the Republic of Cuba, of the Scientific Council of the Cuban Institute of History and of the National Commission of the History Career. He was part of the Ideological Commission of the Central Committee of the Party, the Working Group for the creation of the Fidel Castro Ruz Center and the Drafting Commission of the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, approved in 2019.

He was an Honorary Member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) and of the National Union of Historians of Cuba (UNHIC).

Eduardo Torres Cuevas is the author, co-author or co-editor of more than 60 books and dozens of articles. In 2007 he was one of the writers to whom the XVI Havana International Book Fair was dedicated.

The courses designed and taught by Torres Cuevas are well remembered and remain entirely relevant. "Cuba: the dream of the possible. History of the formation and liberation of the Cuban people and nation" and "Those who thought of Cuba", for the Universidad Para Todo segment on Cuban Television.

He received numerous decorations and distinctions, in Cuba and abroad, among others the Félix Varela Order of the First Degree, the Replica of the Machete of Máximo Gómez, the Frank País Order of the First Degree and the Second Degree and the Carlos J. Finlay Order.

Eusebio Leal, the renowned historian, companion and friend of Torres Cuevas, described him as one of the most brilliant Cuban intellectuals due to his exceptional talent and abilities. Eusebio noted that Torres Cuevas possesses the balance, moral greatness, and deep sense of Cubanness necessary for understanding and analyzing social processes. He was characterized by a high level of sobriety and ethical standards, such that, despite their close friendship, Eusebio always felt the rare and pleasant sensation of a disciple in the presence of a master when he was with him.

Eduardo Torres Cuevas' work is a cornerstone of the scientific and pedagogic ideas developed during the Revolution. It offers an inexhaustible source of knowledge and patriotism for both current and future generations.

His remains will be cremated according to the family's wishes. Information about the public tribute for the distinguished Cuban revolutionary professor and intellectual will be announced in the coming hours.

The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cuba and the University of Havana extend their deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the esteemed intellectual.

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