Louis A. Pérez - To die in Cuba : suicide and society

2005
The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
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Manufactured in the United States of America

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

This book was published with the assistance of the H. Eugene and Lillian Youngs Lehman Fund of the University of North Carolina Press. A complete list of books published with the assistance of the Lehman Fund appears at the end of the book.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Prez, Louis A., 1943
To die in Cuba : suicide and society / Louis A. Prez Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8078-2937-4 (alk. paper)

1. SuicideCuba. 2. SuicidePolitical aspectsCuba. I. Title.

HV6548.C88P47 2005
306.9dc22 2004019097

09 08 07 06 05 5 4 3 2 1

3.1. Suicide in Cuba, by Jurisdiction, 18581859, 1862

3.2. Suicide in Cuba, 18541867

3.3. Suicide in Havana, 18781885

3.4. Worldwide Suicide Rates (per 100,000 inhabitants)

3.5. Suicide in Latin America, 19481958 (per 100,000 inhabitants)

3.6. Suicide in Cuba, by Race and Gender, 19021959

3.7. Suicide in Cuba, by Method, Age, and Gender, 19101949

3.8. Changing Methods of Suicide, 19081949 (percentage of total)

3.9. Suicide in Cuba: Age and Gender Distribution, 19511953

3.10. Suicide in Cuba, by Age, Gender, and Method, 19101949

3.11. Suicide and Occupation, 19021906

3.12. Suicide in Cuba, by Method, Age, and Gender: Colored, 19101949

3.13. Suicide in Cuba, by Method, Age, and Gender: White, 19101949

3.14. White and Colored Age Cohorts, Male-to-Female Ratios, 19101949

3.15. Unsuccessful and Completed Suicides: Havana, 19031912

3.16. Provincial Rates of Suicide, 19261930 (per 100,000 inhabitants)

4.1. Cuban Imports of U.S. Foodstuffs: Average Quantity and Value, 19041909, 19151918

6.1. Number of Suicides, 19591999

6.2. Suicide in Cuba: Age and Gender Distribution, Select Years

6.3. Suicide Rates in Cuba, 19702000 (per 100,000 inhabitants)

6.4. Suicide in Havana, 1996

6.5. Comparative Suicide Rates in the United States, 19781981 (per 100,000 inhabitants)

3.1. Age Patterns of Male-Female Suicide, 19511953

3.2. Seasonality of Suicide, 19021906

Indian suicides

Punishing slaves

Chinese Quarters, Soledad Estate, ca. 1884

Antonio Maceo, ca. 1880s

Jos Mart, Key West, Florida, 1891

Calixto Garca, ca. 1890s

Emilia Casanova de Villaverde, ca. 1870

Luca Iiguez, n.d.

Mariana Grajales, n.d.

Affirmation of Patria, ca. 1898

Studio photograph, Ybor City, Florida, ca. 1898

Son of Domingo Mndez Capote, ca. 1898

Victoria de las Tunas, ca. 1900

Coat of Arms of Victoria de las Tunas

Bayamo, Calle de Comercio, view from Plaza de Armas after fire, 1870

Advertisement for medication directed to survivors of suicide attempts by fire

Headline from La Lucha, March 28, 1921

Caricature depicting the collapse of the Banco Nacional de Cuba and the suicide of Jos Pote Lpez in 1921

Advertisement for Schering pills

Advertisement for Bayer aspirin

Testimonial for a new electric shock treatment to cure the cause of suicide

Domestic Disyllables

A selection of cartoons on the topic of suicide begins on page 265.

In either case, they hang you

After Reajuste

Youre going to kill yourself just because you have been dismissed?

The Island Charleston

Illustration from Momentos del camino, by Eduardo Zamacois

Illustration from Un hombre vulgar, by Arturo Ramrez

A sampling of suicide news in the daily press

Reading the Daily Press

Bust of Mayor Manuel Fernndez Supervielle, Havana, Cuba

Announcement of street name changes in the town of Alquzar, Havana province, December 1898

The Only Solution

Detail of Zaida del Ro, Oracin para encontrar amor (1986)

Detail of Zaida del Rio, Oracin para encontrar amor (1986)

It is in the approach to the completion of this book, in retrospective moments given to reflections on the past ten years of research and writing, that the importance of the contribution of others becomes apparent. This is not to suggest, of course, that the generosity to which one has been beneficiary was not apparent at the time. It is, rather, to observe that only as one contemplates the end does it become possible to appreciate fully the part played by so many people and institutions whose support and assistance have made this book possible. This includes archivists, librarians, bibliographers, and the staffs of the many research institutions that have provided indispensable assistance in the identification, location, and use of vital research materials. In Cuba, I am most appreciative of the generosity extended at the Archivo Nacional de Cuba by Berarda Salabarra, Director, and members of the Archivo staff. At the Biblioteca Nacional Jos Mart I received the unflagging assistance of Eliades Acosta Matos, Director, as well as the reference staff. In this regard, I cannot adequately express my gratitude to Director Nuria Gregori Torada at the Instituto de Literatura y Lingistica for graciously facilitating consultation of the Institutosmagnificent research collections. I am similarly grateful to the staff at the Archivo Histrico Provincial de Pinar del Ro for making available important records bearing on nineteenth-century suicide on the estates of the province. At the Archivo Provincial Histrico de Matanzas, Director Graciela Milin provided both a warm welcome and indispensable knowledge of the record and manuscript collections housed in the archive. It is necessary also to acknowledge with appreciation the years of sponsorship of the research associated with this book, specifically the support of Pablo Pacheco Lpez, Director of the Centro de Investigacin y Desarrollo de la Cultura Cubana Juan Marinello, and Francisco Lpez of Unin de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC).

In the United States, I am most appreciative of the assistance received from the staffs of the Library of Congress, the National Archives in Washington, D.C., the History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, the New York Public Library, and the New-York Historical Society. At the Davis Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the reference personnel and especially the staff of the Inter-Library Loan Department provided indispensable assistance. In this regard, I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Teresa Chapa for her assistance in locating important research materials.

A project so long in the making could not but have benefited from the knowledge and expertise of others. Out of countless discussions both formal and casual, in conversations and correspondence, emerged new possibilities of inquiry. These exchanges with friends and colleagues were a source of valuable information, of thoughtful suggestions, of anecdotes and details, at times in the form of observations drawn from firsthand involvement, often as painful personal experiences, other times as bibliographical recommendations, sometimes as suggestion of a relevant poem or songprecisely the kind of stuff that makes possible a highly textured and nuanced treatment of the circumstances under which people decide to end their lives. Francisco Prez Guzmn gave unstintingly of his time and his vast knowledge of the Cuban nineteenth century and was especially generous in obtaining important research materials, for which I will long remain in his debt. I am also especially grateful to Gabino La Rosa Corzo, whose research assistance in gathering early-twentieth-century press accounts of suicide in Cuba was of inestimable value. In this regard, gratitude must be acknowledged to Ana Cairo, Rey Mauricio Figueredo, Ambrosio Fornet, Rafael Hernndez, Jorge Ibarra, Milagros Martnez, Olga Portuondo Ziga, Alfredo Prieto, Pedro M. Pruna Goodgall, Marel Suzarte Garca, and Oscar Zanetti, all of whom in ways large and small contributed to the development of many aspects of this book. I am most appreciative of the suggestions made by Jean Stubbs, from whose early reading of the prospectus of this book came a number of helpful recommendations. Rebecca J. Scott read early drafts of several chapters and provided thoughtful comments on some of the central formulations around which this book is organized. Lars Schoultz gave close attention to some of the key arguments advanced early in the book, providing clearer focus to the themes of nation and nationality. I also appreciate the thoughtfulness of Rosalba Daz Quintana, Mariola Espinosa, Amy Ferlazzo, Susan Fernndez, Robert P. Ingalls, Lisi Lotz, Luis Martnez-Fernndez, Tom Miller, Gary Mormino, David Sartorius, and William Van Norman, who in the course of their own research were generous to identify materials having to do with suicide in Cuba. Pamela Fesmire and Linda Howe provided assistance at various points in the writing of the manuscript that allowed me to continue toward its completion. As so often in the past, Mayra Alonso helped me get to where I needed to be.