AREQUIPA, Peru – José Gómez-Mena Vila, known as “Don Pepe,” was an influential businessman of Spanish descent and Cuban nationality, one of the richest people on the Island before 1959.
He stood out as owner and president of four sugar mills, as well as for his participation in economic and social organizations in the country. In 1939, he was elected vice president of the National Association of Planters of Cuba.
Likewise, he was known as the leader of the Gómez-Mena clan, he controlled vast tracts of land in the capital, in addition to 500 houses and apartment buildings.
His prominent role in the sugar sector was not José Gómez-Mena Vila’s only achievement, he was also the owner of multiple real estate properties, works of art and other assets.
In his youth, he was a successful business banker, associating with other prominent financiers in Havana. Throughout his life, he faced economic challenges, such as the crisis of 1921, but he managed to recover and maintain his position in the Cuban business environment.
Gómez-Mena became part of the Executive Committee of the Cooperative Export Agency in 1929 and represented the Cuban landowners on the board that administered the financing of 1,500,000 tons of sugar in 1930. Another of his relevant positions was presiding over the delegation of the Island at the 1937 Sugar Conference, sponsored by the League of Nations.
By 1936, he held the position of Minister of Agriculture, where he stood out for his focus on the implementation of technological advances, such as electricity and large-scale irrigation, as well as the promotion of reforestation and the use of alcohol as fuel.
As a sugar magnate, he was owner and president of the Nueva Compañía Azucarera Gómez-Mena, one of the most important in the country at that time, and founded Compañía Destiladora San Nicolás SA in 1944, dedicated to the production of alcohol.
Don Pepe ventured into other business and social fields on the Island. He was a shareholder in Industrial Arrocera de Mayabeque SA, a company dedicated to rice processing, and in Industrias Siporex SA, a concrete block factory in association with millionaire Víctor Pedroso. Aróstegui.
Likewise, he was a member of the Automobile Club of Cuba and contributed to the Academy of Cuban History and the Cuban-North American Cultural Institute.
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2024-03-25 09:12:45
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