Right in the heart of former Victoria de Las Tunas, exactly where the José Martí Plaza stands today, was the Nápoles Fajardo mansion, with the facade facing the current Vicente García Park, which at that time was the park of the San Gerónimo Church and later, Arms Plaza, in what is today the historic center of the city.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- The manor house building served as a home to one of the wealthiest couples in the city along with their seven children: four girls and three boys; among them, Juan Cristóbal, who sometime later and for posterity would become the most prominent figure of the 19th-century décima in Cuba, the pinnacle of Siboneyism and criollismo (creole literary movement).
The three brothers achieved relevance in the literary world and the defense of the patriotic sentiment. Juan Cristóbal, Antonio, and Manuel were poets with published books, journalists, and even, Antonio is known as the first historian from Las Tunas.
Biographer and researcher Carlos Tamayo Rodríguez told the Cuban News Agency that Manuel published Flores del alma, the first book in the history of Las Tunas; his pseudonym Sanlope, which today names the publishing house of this eastern province, was the anagram of Nápoles, just by changing the order of the letters.
Antonio -he added- was the author of Ayes nocturnas, the first book in Holguín. Besides, they worked in newspapers in three provinces: Manuel directed the first one in Las Tunas, El Hórmigo; Antonio, in Holguín, the newspaper La Luz; and Juan Cristóbal worked in El Redactor and the Semanario Cubano, in Santiago de Cuba.
Although lesser known, they were also fueled by a fighting spirit instilled by their grandfather: a city priest who was excommunicated from the Catholic Church due to his involvement in conspiracies against the Spanish colony.
Juan Cristóbal (El Cucalambé) was not only a writer of décimas par excellence but also wrote high-quality sonnets; he was an improviser, a defender of the Creole poetry, and a reference for Cuban countryside folklore, natural landscapes, and of all the rich diversity that inspired his verses.
"He is famous for writing various types of poetry. In décima, he achieved what others had not - he gave it a unique tone that sets him apart from other poets. When one reads his verses, distinct elements help identify his style," said the researcher from Las Tunas.
His father had a sugar mill on the El Cornito farm, which -during the harvest- became the home of the child Juan Cristóbal. Thus, although he was born in the city, he also spent much time among bamboo and slaves, which allowed him to feel like just another country boy.
