Cubans recall Mariana Grajales Coello, Mother of the Homeland

Havana, Jul 12 (Prensa Latina) Cuba recalls on Wednesday the birthday of Mariana Grajales Coello, an outstanding woman who is considered the Mother of the Homeland, not only for giving birth to heroes but also for her contribution to Cuba's struggle for independence.

July 12, 2023
08:34

A symbol of boundless devotion to the fight against the Spanish metropolis, Mariana Grajales has transcended to our times for her nobility and conviction to educate all her children to serve the homeland, even at the cost of their lives.

Tender and kind but inflexible in discipline, this Cuban woman was born in Santiago de Cuba in 1815. She did not hesitate to send her 14 children in response to the call to take up arms by patriot Carlos Manuel de Céspedes in La Demajagua in 1868.

Upon commemorating Mariana Grajales Coello’s 208th birthday, the Cubans remember her as a symbol of the Cuban women.

Cuban National Hero José Martí wrote about her in Patria newspaper on January 6, 1894:

“What there was in that woman, what epic and mystery there was in that humble woman, what holiness and unction there was in her mother’s womb, what decorum and grandeur there was in her simple life, that when one writes of her it is as of the root of the soul, with son-like softness, and as of endearing affection.”

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