Alba de Céspedes y Bertini (March 11, 1911 in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 - November 14, 1997 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

) was a Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

n-Italian writer.

Family

Ms. de Céspedes was the daughter of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada was a Cuban writer, politician, diplomat, and President of Cuba.-Biography:...

 (a President of Cuba

President of Cuba

--209.174.31.28 18:43, 22 November 2011 The President of Cuba is the Head of state of Cuba. According to the Cuban Constitution of 1976, the President is the chief executive of the Council of State of Cuba...

) and his Italian wife, Laura Bertini y Alessandri. Her grandfather was Carlos Manuel de Céspedes

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes del Castillo was a Cuban planter who freed his slaves and made the declaration of Cuban independence in 1868 which started the Ten Years' War...

 and a distant cousin was Perucho Figueredo

Perucho Figueredo

Pedro Felipe Figueredo, mostly known as Perucho was a Cuban poet, musician, and freedom fighter of the 19th century...

. She was married to Francesco Bounous of the Italian foreign service

Her work

Ms. de Céspedes worked as a journalist in the 1930s for Piccolo, Epoca, and La Stampa. In 1935, she wrote her first novel, L’Anima Degli Altri. In 1935, she was jailed for her anti-fascist activities in Italy. Two of her novels were also banned (Nessuno Torna Indietro (1938) and La Fuga (1940)). In 1943, she was again imprisoned for her assistance with Radio Partigiana in Bari

Bari

Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...

. After the war she went to live in Paris.

Some of her works are

• L’Anima Degli Altri (1935)
• Prigionie (1936)
• Io, Suo Padre (1936)
• Concerto (1937)
• Nessuno Torna Indietro (There's No Turning Back)(1938)
• La Fuga (1940)
• Il Libro del Forestiero (1946)
• Dalla Parte Di Lei (The Best of Husbands) (1949)
• Quaderno Proibito (The Secret Diary) (1952).
• Gli Affetti Di Famiglia (1952)
• Tra Donne De Sole (1955)
• Invito A Pranzo (1955)
• Prima E Dopo (Between Then and Now) (1956)
• Il Rimorso (1967)
• La Bambalona (1967)
• Chansons des filles de mai (1968)
• Sans Autre Lieu Que La Nuit (1973)
• Nel Buio Della Notte (1976)

Visit to Cuba

Ms. de Céspedes in October 1968 attended the centennial of Cuba’s struggle for independence celebrations. One of the events, attended by Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...

, was held at in Manzanillo, Cuba

Manzanillo, Cuba

Manzanillo is a municipality and city in the Granma Province of Cuba.It is a port city in the Granma Province in eastern Cuba on the Gulf of Guacanayabo, near the delta of the Cauto River...

, where her grandfather, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, on October 10, 1868, had made a speech against Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 which started the Ten Years' War

Ten Years' War

The Ten Years' War , also known as the Great War and the War of '68, began on October 10, 1868 when sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed Cuba's independence from Spain...

. She also during that trip donated to the Cuban National Archives letters written by her grandfather between 1871 and 1874 to his wife.