Orestes Ferrara


Orestes Ferrara y Marino, known in Italy as Oreste Ferrara, was an Italian Cuban, who fought for Cuba's independence. He was also an attorney, a journalist, a writer and an entrepreneur who founded one of the best newspapers of La Habana.

Life

Ferrara was born in Napoli in 1876 and since his teens promoted the ideals of Risorgimento as an admirer of Garibaldi. At the young age of 20 he went as volunteer to Cuba in order to fight for its independence.
Ferrara spoke at rallies against Spanish oppressors for the Cuban exiles in Florida. He often wore his revolutionary garb, a uniform that had been used in Garibaldi years in Italy. After graduating as attorney in Italy, he went on to lead an expedition to Cuba and fight as a guerrilla with some of his Tampa followers. He eventually rose to numerous positions in the Cuban Republic: Ferrara was President of the House of Representatives from April 1909 to 1914 and from April 1915 to 1917, ambassador to the USA and delegate to the UNESCO.
Ferrara during his nearly one hundred years of life was:
In 1959 Ferrara, who was against the Cuban Revolution promoted by Fidel Castro, decided to go back to Italy where he died in 1972.

Literary works

Ferrara wrote many books and documents, as journalist and editor: