Calixto García y Íñiguez (August 4, 1839 – December 11, 1898) was a Cuban general in three Cuban uprisings, part of the Cuban War for Independence: the Ten Years' War, the Little War, and the War of 1895, itself sometimes called the Cuban War for Independence, which initiated the Spanish–American War, ultimately resulting in national independence for Cuba.

Ancestry and progeny

García was born in Holguín to parents of Cuban Criollo descent. He was a large, strong, educated man with a short temper. García was the grandson of Calixto García de Luna e Izquierdo, who had fought as a royalist in the Battle of Carabobo in 1821 during the Venezuelan War of Independence. His grandmother was Maria de los Angeles Gonzalez, said to be the daughter of a cacique from Valencia, Venezuela. His grandfather (who had dropped the aristocratic "de Luna" upon taking refuge in Cuba) had been jailed on March 18, 1837, for demanding emancipation of slaves, constitutional freedom for all, and allegedly trying to hang a priest who opposed him. As befitted a man of importance of that time, Calixto had a wife, Isabel Velez Cabrera, and a good number of mistresses; these women gave birth to many children both legitimate (about 7) and illegitimate (at least six, each to a different woman). A number of his sons, most notably Carlos García Vélez According to language expert Charles Earle Funk, "to take a message to García", meaning to accept an extremely difficult challenge, was a popular U.S. slang expression for years. The essay was made into two American films, the 1916 silent A Message to Garcia with García played by Charles Sutton and the 1936 film A Message to Garcia featuring Enrique Acosta.

In 1976, a municipality in Holguín Province was named Calixto García after him. His portrait is on the 50 Cuban peso banknote.

  • Castellano García, Gerardo 1927. Tierras y Glorias de Oriente (Calixto García Iñiguez) Editorial Hermes Havana
  • Escalante Beaton, Anibal 1946. Calixto García Su Campaña en el 95. Arrow Press Havana. (Introduction by General Carlos García Velez, son of the mayor general and a firsthand witness to many of the events described.)
  • Rice, Donald Tunnicliff, 2016. Cast in Deathless Bronze: Andrew Rowan, The Spanish–American War, and the Origins of American Empire. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press. (This volume contains more information regarding García's life and career than any other English-language publication.)

References

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