UM News

Speaking to an audience at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies, Teresa Fernandez Soneira (at podium) said she relied heavily on the resources of UM’s Cuban Heritage Collection to write her latest book.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (July 17, 2015) — The University of Miami’s Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies hosted a packed house on June 25 for the presentation of Mujeres de la Patria, a book by noted historian and researcher Teresa Fernandez Soneira that details the immense contributions thousands of Cuban women, or Mambisas, made to the Cuban War of 1868 against Spain.

Fernandez Soneira thanked the members of the UM Libraries’ Cuban Heritage Collection, in particular retired reference librarian and bibliographer Lesbia O. de Varona, who provided a great deal of research material and books that aided her in her research. “I don’t think people realize what treasures can be found at the Cuban Heritage Collection,” said Fernandez Soneira, who spent countless hours at the Richter Library’s Goizueta Pavilion.

Other speakers at the event included Esperanza B. de Varona, professor emeritus and former director of the Cuban Heritage Collection; Uva de Aragon, professor, journalist, and author of several books on Cuba; and Juan Manuel Salvat, owner of the publishing house Ediciones Universal. —Barbara Gutierrez