Who Was Cuban Independence Hero Jose Marti?

Fly into the Cuban capital of Havana and you will land at José Marti International Airport. But who was the man who lends his name to the airport and countless roads throughout the country?

José Marti was always a hugely productive member of Cuban society, born in 1853 when the island was still ruled by imperial Spain. At 15, he started publishing poems and later set up a patriotic newspaper called La Patria Libre (The Free Fatherland).

These political beliefs landed him in hot water with the Spanish and he was exiled to Spain, where he studied, wrote and taught. He later traveled around France, Mexico and Guatemala, developing his skills and his political beliefs, before setting up the Cuban Revolutionary Party in New York.

As well as a prolific writer, Marti became a figurehead of the Cuban independence movement and organized an invasion of the island in 1895. He died in the attempt to liberate his country from Spain, but Marti lives on in Cuban culture and remains a key cultural reference for people on the island.

His legacy is fairly unique among Cubans divided into those who remained on the island and those who fled abroad following the 1959 revolution, with both sides of the ideological divide citing Marti as an inspiration.