Cuban revolutionary intellectual Juan Marinello Vidaurrueta, eminent professor, poet and essayist who died on March 27, 1977, graduated as Doctor in Civil and Public Law, collaborated with the student leader Julio Antonio Mella in the movement for the University Reform, and together with him and Rubén Martínez Villena in the creation of the Popular University José Martí.
Marinello participated in the Protest of the Thirteen, was a member of the Retail Group and the Movement of Veterans and Patriots and fought against the corrupt governments of the republic, for which he was persecuted and forced to leave the country; a communist militant from a very young age, he was a delegate to the Constituent Assembly of 1940, representative to the House, senator and presidential candidate for the 1948 elections, and after Fulgencio Batista’s coup d’etat, his activities against the dictatorship led him to prison on several occasions.
Marinello’s work as a pedagogue was extensive and spanned several countries; he also held important positions in international organizations: permanent member of the jury of the Lenin Peace Prize, president of the José Martí International Colloquium at the University of Bordeaux, and vice-president of the Executive Council of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
After the triumph of the Revolution Juan Marinello was Rector of the University of Havana, ambassador to UNESCO and vice-president of the National Assembly of People’s Power; he also represented the Cuban Movement for Peace in important international events such as those held in Warsaw, Mexico, Budapest, Brussels, Helsinki and Berlin.
Juan Marinello was a member of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party from its foundation in 1965 until his death.
