José Antonio Portuondo Valdor: A Fabulous Man
He is recalled with his light eyes and white hair, neat clothes, white guayabera and refined manners. “Fabulous” was his favorite word and he loved calling people comrade. José Antonio Portuondo Valdorknew how to turn conversations into a fruitful way of saying. Helping other people was the highest goal he ever set in his life. He always fulfilled by means of the most exemplary behavior: humbleness.
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José Antonio Portuondo Valdor was born on November 10, 1911, a man that would try to change the historic period he lived, and he would do it through the most respectable way: oratory, literature and art in general.
There is a series of stories related to his paternal surname, Portuondo, that refer to the marquisate title of Delicias de Tempú, given conferred by Fernando 7th, king of Spain at the time. The crown subsequently took the title away due to the Portuondo family’s ideas against the colony in favor of the independence of Cuba.
The marquisate titlewas also taken away because the Portuondo family accepted Dr. Antomarchí, Napoleon Bonaparte’s doctor, who arrived in Cuba after 1821, when Napoleon passed away.
This story never attracted this man, who studied at the school of Mr. Antonio Vallejo’s daughters and, afterwards, at Dolores college.
In 1929, when he was 18 years old, he traveled to the Capital in order to study Law at the University of Havana. José Antonio Portuondo Valdor graduated in 1936 and, five years later, he got his PhD in Humanities with his thesis Concept of Poetry, which was published in 1945 as a book and is described as a pioneer of scientific studies on literary theory in Cuba.
Then he met Berta, the young Andalusian that gave him a picture of Martí and he kept it in his wallet until the last day of his life. He married Berta on April 6, 1941.
She fell in love with his versatility, ingenuousness and romanticism, became his inseparable wife. José Antonio Portuondo Valdor dedicated all his books to this woman, with a simple, but profound line: To Berta, comrade.
When we read his work, we believe that he was a philosopher of life, an art critic, and everything it entails; it makes us think that we are talking about one of the most remarkable intellectuals from the 20th century.
His literary, cultural and social activism was unleashed since he was a young man. His first poems and articles were published between 1930 and ‘34 on La Salle and Diario de Cuba, in Santiago de Cuba, and Orto in Manzanillo.
Between 1944 and 1946, he lived in Mexico City due to a scholarship he was given,and he developed postgraduate studies and researches on Literary Theory.
During his stay in that country, Portuondo collaborated with La Voz de México, a newspaper that represented the ideas of Mexican communists; as well as other prestigious publications, such as El Hijo Pródigo. In 1946, he published in Mexico his collection of Cuban Contemporary Stories and such books as The Social Content of Cuban Literature.
Teaching was an important facet in Portuondo’s life, perhaps the most known one, and he could never let it go. He was so into this work that the generations he taught still remember “prof” Portuondo and thank him for the numberless teachings and peculiar way of giving lessons, which made them travel to unknown places.
The Eastern University was the institution that marked a milestone in Portuondo’s life, as a professor and rector.
Making friends was not a problem at all for him, since he was a man with great sense of humor. He had a lot of friends in Santiago de Cuba, many of which were his students at the beginning, such as Leyla Vásquez, Miguel Ángel Botalín Pampín or José Soler Puig.
In 1960 the revolutionary government appointed him Cuba’s Ambassador to Mexico, a position he occupied until 1962. He developed a remarkable work to promote and contribute to the enrichment of cultural relations between Cuba and Mexico.
In 1971he was tapped Cuba’s Ambassador to the Vatican, and he carried out this activity through 1982. During the 7 years he spent there, he witnessed the pontificate of three Popes, Pablo 6th (1963 - 1978), John Paul 1st (1978) and John Paul 2nd (1978– 2005), a unique experience for a Cuban ambassador.
In the 3rd UNEAC Congress, held in 1982, he was chosen First Vice president of the organization, a responsibility he took until 1988. Portuondo was a jury member in important national literary contests, such as those organized by UNEAC and other institutions in the country, as well as international competitions like the Casa de las Américas Award.
José Antonio Portuondo Valdorwas given several awards, such as the Order of the Polish Culture in 1974, Carlos J. Finlay Order in 1981, First-Grade Félix Varela Order in 1981, Félix Elmuza Order in 1983 and multiple medals. Furthermore, he was handed the Gaspar M. de Jovellanos Distinction in 1993 by Cuba’s Federation of Asturian Associations and titles of Honorary Professor of the Humanities Faculty, Santo Domingo’s Autonomous University, Dominican Republic and Honorary Member of the Economic Association of Friends of the Country, both in 1994. He was a member of UNESCO’s Cuban National Commission and member of the Cuban-Mexican Association of Cultural Relations, where he was the president.
His articles and essays have been translated into such languages as French, English, Russian, Chinese, German, Slovakian and Rumanian, among others.
