The house where the Castro brothers started their path is located in Biran village, Holguin Province, East Cuba. Access to the village with under 1000 inhabitants (according to 2020 data) goes through а partially ill-maintained and bumpy road. The mansion is worth visiting, though! Its story goes back to the XIX century. On its territory, you will see a family tomb, covered with a wooden construction for rooster fights, a private post station, a pharmacy, a supermarket, a private elementary school, a family house, and other houses for guests and servants, as well as a garage with a car for the needs of the family.
Seeing this, I asked myself what is the chance for somebody having all this in the present day, to dump their life in a search for justice… But let’s go back to Biran in Cuba and the Castro’s mansion!
The mansion is now a museum. It was built by Fidel Castro’s father – Angel Castro, or as they used to call him – Don Angel. Back in his day, Angel arrives in Cuba as a soldier from the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia. He is sent to fight against the Cubans, who rebelled for independence. After the end of the Spanish Armada, Angel returns to Cuba to seek new horizons.
At the age of 27 Angel settles in the small village of Biran in Oriente, East Cuba. In the beginning, he works as a construction worker and a night guard. Then, with another Spanish immigrant, they open their own snack spot. Later they buy oxen and carts for goods transportation. With time Angel becomes wealthy enough to buy land for breeding cattle and cultivating huge amounts of sugar-cane.
In 1911 he marries Maria Argota, who gives birth to five children. Unfortunately, only two survive. However, Maria strives for career growth and moves to Santiago de Cubа. It is then that Angel meets the 18-year-old Lina Rus, who gives birth to seven children, including Fidel Alejandro in 1926 and Raul Modesto in 1931. Fidel’s parents officially contract a marriage in 1943.
The children’s upbringing is entrusted mainly to the ambitious and dedicated Lina Rus. She and Fidel are illiterate so they are taught spelling and grammar when adults. Lina insists that her children receive a high-quality education. Eventually, this fact will be crucial for the Cuban nation. After the triumph of the Revolution Fidel Castro introduces his Cuban Literacy Campaign for access to education even in the most remote Cuban provinces. Thus, even up to the present day Cuba maintains a high educational status.
Thanks to his mother, and maybe fate, Fidel Castro learns how to read and write at the age of four. The rest is history…
To visit Biran and the museum mansion, take the left turn towards Julio Antonio Mella if you are driving along the highway to Santiago de Cubа. Or simply travel with cuba.bgspace.com! 🙂
