Jorge Mass Canosa was a Cuban-American activist best known for his strong opposition to Fidel Castro

Opposition to Fidel Castro

The Cuban dissident movement is a political movement in Cuba whose aim is "to replace the current regime with a more democratic form of government". According to Human Rights Watch, the Cuban government represses nearly all forms of political dissent....

 and his leadership of the Cuban American National Foundation. He was considered by some to be the leading figure in the Cuban exile

Cuban exile

The term "Cuban exile" refers to the many Cubans who have sought alternative political or economic conditions outside the island, dating back to the Ten Years' War and the struggle for Cuban independence during the 19th century...

 community in Miami, Florida

Miami, Florida

Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

. Canosa volunteered as a young man to fight in the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 shortly after Castro had taken political control of Cuba.

His parents were Dr. Ramon Mass Cayado and Josefa de Carmen Canosa Aguilera and his siblings were Nancy, Ramon, Ricardo and Raul Mass-Canosa. He was married to Irma Santos-Espronceda and they had three children; Juan Carlos, Jose Ramon, and Jorge Mass-Santos. He is buried at Woodlawn Park Cemetery and Mausoleum (now Caballero Rivero Woodlawn North Park Cemetery and Mausoleum).

A school was built and named Jorge Mas Canosa in tribute.