| Alba de Céspedes y Bertini | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 11, 1911 Rome, Italy |
| Died | November 14, 1997 (aged 86) Paris, France |
Alba de Céspedes y Bertini (March 11, 1911 in Rome, Italy - November 14, 1997 in Paris, France) was a Cuban-Italian writer.
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Ms. de Céspedes was the daughter of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada (a President of Cuba) and his Italian wife, Laura Bertini y Alessandri. Her grandfather was Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and a distant cousin was Perucho Figueredo. She was married to Francesco Bounous of the Italian foreign service
Ms. de Céspedes worked as a journalist in the 1930s for Piccolo, Epoca, and La Stampa. In 1935, she wrote her first novel, L’Anima Degli Altri. In 1935, she was jailed for her anti-fascist activities in Italy. Two of her novels were also banned (Nessuno Torna Indietro (1938) and La Fuga (1940)). In 1943, she was again imprisoned for her assistance with Radio Partigiana in Bari. After the war she went to live in Paris.
Ms. de Céspedes in October 1968 attended the centennial of Cuba’s struggle for independence celebrations. One of the events, attended by Fidel Castro, was held at in Manzanillo, Cuba, where her grandfather, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, on October 10, 1868, had made a speech against Spain which started the Ten Years' War. She also during that trip donated to the Cuban National Archives letters written by her grandfather between 1871 and 1874 to his wife.