Alba de Céspedes y Bertini

Infobox Person
name=Alba de Céspedes y Bertini


caption=
birth_date=March 11, 1911
birth_place=Rome, Italy
death_date=November 14, 1997
death_place=Paris, France

Alba de Céspedes y Bertini (March 11, 1911 in Rome, Italy - November 14, 1997 in Paris, France) was a Cuban-Italian writer.

Family

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

Her work

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.

ome of her works are:

*"L’Anima Degli Altri" (1935)
*"Prigionie" (1936)
*"Io, Suo Padre" (1936)
*"Concerto" (1937)
*"Nessuno Torna Indietro" (There's No Turning Back)(1938)
*"La Fuga" (1940)
*"Il Libro del Forestiero" (1946)
*"Dalla Parte Di Lei" (The Best of Husbands) (1949)
*"Quaderno Proibito" (The Secret Diary) (1952).
*"Gli Affetti Di Famiglia" (1952)
*"Tra Donne De Sole" (1955)
*"Invito A Pranzo" (1955)
*"Prina E Dopo" (Between Then and Now) (1956)
*"IL Rimorso" (1967)
*"La Bambalona" (1967)
*"Chansons Des Filles De Mai" (1969)
*"Sans Autre Lieu Que La Nuit" (1973)
*"Nel Buio Della Notte" (1976)

Visit to Cuba

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.

References

* [http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/decespe.htm Kuusankosken Kaupunginkirjasto bio]
* [http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,873298,00.html Time magazine article]
* [http://www.cubacultura.org/subs.asp?sID=2&cID=70 Cuba Cultura article] es icon