The only thing that María Luisa Milanés knew for certain when she was in front of Ramón Fajardo Gamboa is that she felt in love with those eyes, two mirrors of passionate moments of love. She only saw lights and success and faced the opposition of her father, General Luisillo Milanés, and the young woman married her lover in 1912.

She had always dreamed of traveling to Mexico to enhance her literary career, but she met strong opposition from her own father, who had even prohibited her from publishing her verses, which totally depressed her.

This unique woman, who mastered several languages, liked music and was a notable pianist, had a predilection for La Bayamesa, by Céspedes and Fornaris.

She used the pseudonym Liana de Lux and published in the Manzanillo magazine Orto. In her unfinished Autobiography, she developed interesting concepts about women and she is considered a pioneer of feminism in Cuba, for having written the first feminist manifesto on the island.

The suicide

She experienced seven 7 years of unhappy marriage. Her greatest illusions broken and totally disappointed, María Luisa shot herself with the pistol of one of her relatives.

She died a few days later on October 19, 1919. She was only 26 years old.

She was buried in the Santa Ifigenia cemetery, in Santiago de Cuba, along with the remains of her father and mother and later her remains were transferred to Bayamo, the land she loved so much.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff