The intellectual Tomás Fernández Robaina dies

MÉRIDA, Mexico -. The writer and researcher Tomás Fernández Robaina died this Friday in Havana at the age of 83.

“It is with sadness that we learned of the death of the Cuban researcher Tomás Fernández Robaina, linked for many years to the National Library and author of a work of particular significance for our culture. “Let our hug reach all those who loved it,” tweeted the ruling Casa de las Américas.

Fernández Robaina worked since 1962 as a researcher at the National Library and his work leaves a legacy in “studies of black and African ancestry in Cuba,” according to the note released by UNEAC.

“The intellectual work of Tomás Fernández Robaina has focused on promoting cultural traditions, religious practices and social problems that concern those excluded by the metanarratives of power,” reads a profile published in Rialta Magazine.

Likewise, he witnessed the Cuban regime’s parametrization and repression against homosexuals and, in the 1960s, he narrowly escaped being sent to the UMAP work camps.

“I was not at UMAP for two important reasons. It was my most romantic stage, of most dedication to the Revolution. When they went to consult the administration of the National Library about my case, to be sent to the UMAP, Dr. Maruja Iglesias said that I was a magnificent worker and a very integrated person who was completely dedicated to the Revolution,” he said in a interview.

Tomás Fernández Robaina is also known for his friendship with the writer Reinaldo Arenas, who made him a character in his work as Tomasita La Goyesca.

Among his books stand out the Bibliography of Afro-Cuban topics (1985), The black in Cuba 1902-1958 (1990) o Paleros and santeros speak (1994).

Fernández Robaina’s greatest wish was “that in Cuba one day there will be a society where repression does not exist, where we can all express ourselves openly and where the diversity of criteria is understood.”