Mambí

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Mambises in the forests of Cuba (contemporary illustration)

As Mambí (plural: Mambises ) the Spanish colonial troops referred to the guerrilla fighters who fought for the separation of Cuba from the Spanish colonial power in the Cuban War of Independence between 1868 and 1898 .

The etymology of the word mambí is controversial:

  • Origin from Bantu , a widespread subgroup of the African Niger-Congo languages , of which very many of the slaves living in Cuba were speakers. The original word mbi is said to have various derogatory meanings ( Fernando Ortiz Fernández , Cuban anthropologist ).
  • In Santo Domingo there was a guerrilla fighting against Spanish rule by the name of Juan Ethenius Mamby , a former black Spanish officer who joined the rebels in 1846. This name then became the collective name for all insurgents on Santo Domingo: "The Mamby Men". Spanish troops, who came to Cuba from Santo Domingo at the beginning of the Cuban struggle against Spain in 1868, then applied this designation to the Cuban insurgents, who eventually adopted them for themselves (Philip Sheldon Foner, American historian).

It is also conceivable that both explanations are correct.

At first this word was understood as a swear word, but later used by the insurgents themselves and after independence from Spain in Cuba it was understood as a name of honor, which is still used today for all Cubans fighting against Spanish colonial rule.

For the Spaniards, the term “ guerrilla ” was out of the question, as it was the name of the Spanish fighters against Napoleonic domination . So "guerrilla" has a fundamentally positive connotation in Spain that could not be applied to opponents of Spain. The Spaniards called their Cuban opponents "rebels", "bandits" or "Mambises".

See also

literature

  • Fernando Ortíz Fernández : Introducción Biográfica. In: James O'Kelly: La tierra del mambí. Havana 1930
  • Philip S. Foner: The Spanish-American-Cuban War and the birth of american imperialism 1895-1902. New York, London 1972, Vol. I, p. 31.
  • Michael Zeuske: Black Caribbean. Slaves, Slavery Cultures, and Emancipation. Rotpunktverlag, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-85869-272-7 .