Arts and Literature of Cuba

subjects, and those stories place her among the major fiction writers of 20th-century Cuba. The youngest of eight sib- lings, Lydia Cabrera was born into a prominent Havana fami- ly in 1900. Her father was a famous lawyer, historian, and patriot. As a child, she was intrigued by Afro-Cuban folk- tales that she heard from the servants in her parents’ home. She was educated mainly by private tutors. Cabrera went to Paris in 1927 to study art. She would remain in France for more than a decade. It was there that Cabrera began writing her short stories. Her first collec- tion, Cuentos negros de Cuba

Lydia Cabrera did extensive research into Afro-Cuban culture, and wrote more than 100 books during her lifetime.

(“Black Stories of Cuba”), was translated into French and pub- lished in 1936. The Spanish version would appear four years later. Cabrera returned to her native Cuba in 1938. She wrote more short stories for a collection titled ¿Por Qué? (“Why?”), which was published in 1948. She also collected Afro-Cuban folktales; published a scholarly work about Santeria, an Afro- Cuban religion based on the traditional beliefs of the Yoruba

26

Arts and Literature of Cuba