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

(“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

Lydia Cabrera did extensive research into

Afro-Cuban culture, and wrote more than

100 books during her lifetime.