Mentioning the pseudonyms of Alicia, Monica, Deborah or Mariela today, may not place neither in time nor in person in the history of Cuba. But if one were to mention Vilma Espín Guillois, the memory moves to April 7, 1930 in the city of Santiago de Cuba, where she was born and where she studied to become a Chemical Engineer.
The young lady, who loved singing and ballet, who was also active in sports, had, above all, a high sense of justice, an affinity with noble causes, sensitivity and humanism, humbleness and dignity, which made her one of the most outstanding revolutionary fighters during the process of national liberation and in the construction of the Cuban Revolution after January 1st, 1959.
These patriotic qualities drove Vilma Espín to fight against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, joining the conspiratorial activities of Frank País García, in the uprising of Santiago de Cuba, in various demonstrations of the Federation of Eastern University Students (FEUO), she was part of the National Direction of the 26th of July Movement (M-26-7), coordinating the former province of Oriente and at the age of 28 she was part of the Rebel Army in the II Frente Oriental Frank País (Frank País II Eastern Front).
Vilma’s contributions
If her contribution to the triumph was valuable, equally colossal was the work she carried out after that victorious January. On August 23, 1960, she founded the Federation of Cuban Women, FMC, becoming its eternal president.
Through this organization she defended the emancipation of women and the defense and integral development of children, being her most fruitful work to which she dedicated most of her life.
Vilma Espín tirelessly promoted the incorporation of women into society and their role as an essential figure in the political and socioeconomic changes of the country, as expressed by Commander Fidel Castro: “She devoted her whole life to fight for women when in Cuba most of them were discriminated against as human beings as in the rest of the world, with honorable revolutionary exceptions”.
It is impossible to question the validity of Vilma Espín’s impression of love, humility and devotion to the homeland, when she would be 93 years old today.
