Gregorio Fuentes
Encyclopedia
Gregorio Fuentes was a fisherman and the first mate of the Pilar
- the boat belonging to the American writer Ernest Hemingway
.
Fuentes was born on Lanzarote
in the Canary Islands
, and migrated to Cuba when he was ten years old. In 1938, Fuentes replaced the Pilar's original first mate, Carlos Gutierrez, after Hemingway's mistress, Jane Mason, hired him away to be the first mate of her boat after becoming jealous of Hemingway's relationship with Martha Gellhorn
.
Fuentes, a life-long cigar
smoker, died from cancer
in Cojimar
in 2002, never having read The Old Man and the Sea. He was 104 years old.
, though this is most likely the result of Fuentes' longevity and how he purposefully grew into the incarnation of the role of Santiago for tourists visiting Cojimar.
Hemingway himself stated that Santiago was "based on no one in particular".
That Fuentes worked closely and knew Hemingway very well is undeniable. However, if anyone can claim credit for being the inspiration for Santiago, it was Hemingway's original first mate, Carlos Gutierrez.
Gutierrez had been fishing the Gulf Stream for 40 years and was already an old man when Hemingway first met him. Hemingway would credit the old fisherman with teaching him everything he knew about catching marlin, and credited Gutierrez with telling him the Cuban tales he used as grist to write "On The Blue Water: A Gulf Stream Letter".
Additionally, Hemingway laid out the plot outline for "The Old Man And The Sea" and how Gutierrez's
assistance proved vital to the story's creation and evolution in a letter written in February 1939 to his
editor, Max Perkins:
"One (story) about the old commercial fisherman who fought the swordfish all alone in his skiff for 4 days and four nights and the sharks finally eating it after he had it alongside and could not get into the boat. That's a wonderful story of the Cuban coast. I'm going out with old Carlos in his skiff so as to get it all right. Everything he does and everything he thinks in all that long fight with the boat out of sight of all the other boats all alone on the sea. It's a great story if I can get it right. One that would make the book."
Fuentes would spend his later years charging tourists him $10 or $20 to take his picture and regale them with stories of his domestic partenership with Ernest Hemingway.(Actually it was his grandson who would joke around, telling tourists to always leave Fuentes some money for his cigars)
Pilar
Our Lady of the Pillar is the name given to the Blessed Virgin Mary for her claimed appearance during the start of Christianity in Spain. She is considered the Patroness of the country and the Spanish Civil Guard. Her shrine is in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza, by the river...
- the boat belonging to the American writer Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
.
Fuentes was born on Lanzarote
Lanzarote
Lanzarote , a Spanish island, is the easternmost of the autonomous Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 125 km off the coast of Africa and 1,000 km from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering 845.9 km2, it stands as the fourth largest of the islands...
in the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
, and migrated to Cuba when he was ten years old. In 1938, Fuentes replaced the Pilar's original first mate, Carlos Gutierrez, after Hemingway's mistress, Jane Mason, hired him away to be the first mate of her boat after becoming jealous of Hemingway's relationship with Martha Gellhorn
Martha Gellhorn
Martha Gellhorn was an American novelist, travel writer and journalist, considered by The London Daily Telegraph amongst others to be one of the greatest war correspondents of the 20th century. She reported on virtually every major world conflict that took place during her 60-year career...
.
Fuentes, a life-long cigar
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
smoker, died from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in Cojimar
Cojimar
Cojimar is a small fishing village east of Havana. It was the inspiration for Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. It was also the location where during the 1940s an enormous Great white shark was caught, which is one of the contenders for the largest specimen of all time...
in 2002, never having read The Old Man and the Sea. He was 104 years old.
The Old Man And The Sea
Fuentes is credited by some as a model for Hemingway's protagonist, Santiago, in The Old Man and the SeaThe Old Man and the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea is a novel written by American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Cuba, and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction to be produced by Hemingway and published in his lifetime. One of his most famous works, it centers upon Santiago, an aging fisherman who...
, though this is most likely the result of Fuentes' longevity and how he purposefully grew into the incarnation of the role of Santiago for tourists visiting Cojimar.
Hemingway himself stated that Santiago was "based on no one in particular".
That Fuentes worked closely and knew Hemingway very well is undeniable. However, if anyone can claim credit for being the inspiration for Santiago, it was Hemingway's original first mate, Carlos Gutierrez.
Gutierrez had been fishing the Gulf Stream for 40 years and was already an old man when Hemingway first met him. Hemingway would credit the old fisherman with teaching him everything he knew about catching marlin, and credited Gutierrez with telling him the Cuban tales he used as grist to write "On The Blue Water: A Gulf Stream Letter".
Additionally, Hemingway laid out the plot outline for "The Old Man And The Sea" and how Gutierrez's
assistance proved vital to the story's creation and evolution in a letter written in February 1939 to his
editor, Max Perkins:
Fuentes would spend his later years charging tourists him $10 or $20 to take his picture and regale them with stories of his domestic partenership with Ernest Hemingway.(Actually it was his grandson who would joke around, telling tourists to always leave Fuentes some money for his cigars)
Sources
- Hemingway In Cuba by Hilary Hemingway and Carlene Brennan, June 2003
- Welcome to Havana, Señor Hemingway by Alfredo Jose Estrada, August 2005