July 2024: “Model of patience and patriotism” was the description José Martí gave to Magdalena Peñarredonda Doley, one of the most dynamic patriots of the War of Independence, revolutionary intellectual, courageous journalist, conspirator and courier of the Liberation Army, who as a teenager began to write articles published in the newspaper El Criollo.
Born on July 22, 1846 in Quiebra Hacha, Mariel, Artemisa, since 1893 she conspired against the Spanish colonial power; an article of hers with a marked pro-independence character forced her to leave Cuba and join the emigration, where she collected money, medicines, distributed correspondence, carried out intelligence and information work, among other important actions in the independence preparations.
At the outbreak of February 24, Antonio Maceo appointed her Delegate of the Sixth Corps of the Liberation Army, and she represented the patriots of the West before the Revolutionary Junta of Havana; after the death of the Bronze Titan, she continued to cooperate with his substitute, General Mayía Rodríguez; and although she was imprisoned in the Casa de las Recogidas, she always kept her rebellious spirit high and dedicated herself to the defense of women prisoners.
When the Necessary War ended, this distinguished patriot, who had Enrique José Varona among her professors, was granted the Degree of Grace and named Commander of the Liberating Army; from 1912 and 1913 she collaborated with the newspaper La Noche, where she focused her campaigns in favor of the suffrage for women and in defense of the outraged homeland.
From 1932 onwards she occupied different positions in the different governments, always criticizing and denouncing the abuses committed by each one and established in her home a literary gathering attended by personalities such as Manuel Sanguily, Alfredo Zayas and Alfonso and Julián del Casal.
