Natalia Bolívar

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Natalia Bolívar Aróstegui (born September 16, 1934 in Havana ) is a Cuban writer, anthropologist and ethnologist . She is an expert on the Afro-Cuban religion Santería . Around a hundred writings and lectures were published by her, both in Cuba and abroad.

biography

Natalia Bolívar comes from a wealthy Cuban family with an extensive family tree. Among other things, she is a descendant of the Latin American freedom fighter Simón Bolívar . In 1955 she studied Cuban art at the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities at the University of Havana , painting and sculpture at the San Alejandro School , and natural design and painting at the Arts Students League in New York . Her professors there were the stars of North American design, Will Barnet , Morris Kantor and Norman Rockwell . From 1956 to mid-1958 she worked at the Palacio de Bellas Artes , first as a museum guide and interpreter for English and French , and later as the person responsible for Cuban ethnology . She is a student of Fernando Ortiz and Lydia Cabrera .

Because of her membership in the Revolutionary Directory of March 13 , an armed resistance organization against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista , she was arrested in July 1958 and spent the time after her release until January 1, 1959 in the underground.

After the revolution , she became director of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and, among other things, dealt with the restoration of works of art from formerly private hands. At the same time she participated in the founding and management of the Museo Napoleónico in Havana. With the support of UNESCO , she received training courses in museology and cataloging, during which she also traveled to Paris to study the museums there. In 1966 she was fired and got a job at the Ministry of Agriculture, for which she organized small art exhibitions in rural centers in Havana Province. From 1971 she was head of the department for contemporary Cuban jewelry design at the Cuban National Bank before organizing and managing the National Bank's Mint Museum from 1974. Later she worked in various institutions of the Cuban cultural industry, for example as head of public relations at the national theater or as a consultant for music and costumes for film productions.

During her career she had several problems with the authorities because, according to her own statements, she was "too rebellious", "contradicted the party bosses" and attracted attention with her lifestyle with "too many and too young men". Since the 1980s she has focused on the world of the Orishas , the Afro-Cuban folk religion.

bibliography

  • Los Orishas en Cuba - La Habana: Ediciones Unión, 1990, u. a.
  • Ituto: la muerte en los mitos y rituales afrocubanos - Co-author: Carmen González Díaz de Villega, Miami: Editorial Arenas, 1992. ISBN 1-56578-011-6
  • Mitos y Leyendas de la comida afrocubana - Co-author: Carmen González Díaz de Villega, La Habana: Editorial Ciencias Sociales, 1993. (Colección Echún Bi) ISBN 959-06-0118-9
  • Opolopo Owó: los sistemas adivinatorios de la Regla de Ocha - La Habana: Editorial Ciencias Sociales, 1994. (Colección Echú Bi) ISBN 959-06-0138-3
  • Orishas, ​​Egguns, Nkisis, Nfumbes y su posesión de la pintura cubana - La Habana: Editorial Pablo de la Torriente Brau, 1994. (Colección Muama Matari Nsasi). ISBN 959-12-0041-2
  • Los perros y los orishas - La Habana: Editorial Pablo de la Torriente Brau, 1994
  • Orula en el deambular por la antiguas civilizaciones - La Habana: Editorial Pablo de la Torriente Brau, 1995. (Colección Muana Matari Nsasi) ISBN 959-12-0046-3
  • ¿Sincretismo religioso? Santa Bárbara / Changó - Co-author: Mario López Cepero, La Habana: Editorial Pablo de la Torriente Brau, 1995. (Colección Muana Matari Nsasi). ISBN 959-12-0043-9
  • Tributo necesario a Lydia Cabrera y sus egguns - La Habana: Editorial Pablo de la Torriente Brau, 1995. (Colección Muana Matari Nsasi) ISBN 959-12-0049-8
  • Ifá: su historia en Cuba: ensayo - La Habana: Ediciones Unión, 1996. (Colección La Rueda Dentada). ISBN 959-209-092-0

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Natalia Bolívar y Aróstegui ( Memento of February 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), SoyCubano.com (English)
  2. ↑ a b With him, that was the best time SPIEGEL special 10/1999 of October 1, 1999, page 122
  3. ↑ a b c Natalia Bolívar in the official Cuban web encyclopedia EcuRed , accessed on January 3, 2014 (Spanish)
  4. ^ A b El País: "La santería está en nuestro ADN cubano" from June 16, 2008
personal data
SURNAME Bolívar, Natalia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bolívar Aróstegui, Natalia (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cuban writer and ethnologist
DATE OF BIRTH September 16, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Havana