User:Arvisujt/Vilma Espín

Early Life and Education
Vilma Espín Guillois was born on 7 April 1930, in Santiago de Cuba. She was the daughter of a wealthy Cuban lawyer, Jose Espín and wife Margarita Guillois. She had four siblings, Nilsa, Iván, Sonia and José. Espín attended Academia Pérez-Peña for primary school and studied ballet and singing at the Asociación Pro-Arte Cubano during the 1940s. In the 1950s, she studied chemical engineering at Universidad de Oriente, Santiago de Cuba (one of the first women in Cuba to study this subject). While attending Universidad de Oriente, Santiago de Cuba, she played volleyball, tennis, and was a soprano in the University Choir '''. In university, Espin met her mentor Frank Pais in a university group called Oriente Revolutionary Action (ARO), which was responsible for the assault on the Moncada barracks .''' After graduating, her father encouraged her to attend MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts to complete her post-graduate studies in the hopes that visiting America would dissuade her from becoming involved in socialist activity. When she finally acquiesced, her brief academic career at MIT left her with even more animosity toward the United States, as she officially joined the 26th of July Movement on her way back to Cuba through Mexico. '''Espin only completed one semester at MIT. [ ]'''

Role in the Federation of Cuban Women
Vilma Espín was an outspoken supporter of gender equality in Cuba, but distinctly separated herself and the goals of the Federation of Cuban Women from traditional feminism, insisting advocacy for 'feminine' not 'feminist' . Her involvement in the revolution helped transform the role of women in Cuba and in 1960, Espín became the president of the Federation of Cuban Women, and remained in that position until her death in 2007. The organization's primary goals were educating women, giving them the necessary skills to seek gainful employment, and above all encouraging them to participate in politics and support the revolutionary government. In 1960, when sugar mills and cane fields were under attack across Cuba shortly before the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Federation of Cuban Women created the Emergency Medical Response Brigades to mobilize women against counter-revolution. The Cuban government and the Federation encouraged women to join the labor force, even going so far as to pass the Cuban Family Code in 1975, a law mandating that men must help with household chores and childcare to lighten the workload for working mothers.

Death and Legacy
Espín died in Havana at 4:14 p.m. EDT on 18 June 2007, following a long illness. An official mourning-period was declared from 8 p.m. on 18 June until 10 p.m. on 19 June. A funeral ceremony was held at the Karl Marx Theatre in Havana the day after her death. '''Her death was announced on state-run television. Thousands of Cubans filed through the Plaza of the Revolution in Havana. Raúl Castro was in the receiving line. Fidel Castro did not attend. [ ]''' The Cuban government released a statement praising her as "one of the most relevant fighters for women's emancipation in our country and in the world." Her body was cremated, and her remains rest in the Frank País Mausoleum, Municipio II Frente in the province of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.

The Vilma Espín elementary school was opened in Havana in April of 2013. Espin founded the Frente Continental de Mujeres Contra la Intervención (Continental Women’s Front Against Intervention, FCMCI) [Torres Santana] and the Regional Center of the International Democratic Federation of Women for the Americas and Caribbean .

Role in the Cuban Government
'''Espin was deeply involved with the opposition to the dictator Fulgencio Batista. She joined with a local political leader, Frank País, to organize an armed uprising in late 1956 to coincide with the landing of armed rebels under the command of Fidel Castro.''' [ ] Espín served as a member of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party from 1965 to 1989.She also held many other roles in the Cuban government, including chair of the Commission for Social Prevention from 1967 to 1971, director of Industrial Development in the Ministry of Food in 1969, president of the Institute of Childcare in 1971, and member of the Cuban Council of State in 1976. In addition to her roles within Cuba, Espín also served as Cuba's representative at the United Nations General Assembly.

Espín took on the role of Cuba's First Lady for 45 years, initially taking on the role as the sister-in-law to Fidel Castro, who was divorced at the time he came to power. She officially became the First Lady in 2006 when her husband, Raúl Castro, became president. Additionally, she was granted the title of "Secretary of State" in the Government of Cuba.

Espín headed the Cuban Delegation to the Congress of the International Federation of Democratic Women in Chile in September 1959. She also headed the Cuban delegations to subsequent Conferences on Women, praising them as "invaluable to women in developing countries."

Family
Espín was married to Raúl Castro, the former First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, who is the brother to former First Secretary Fidel Castro. Their wedding took place in 1959, only weeks after the 26th of July Movement had successfully overthrown dictator Fulgencio Batista. She had four children (Deborah, Mariela, Nilsa, and Alejandro Castro Espín) and eight grandchildren. Her daughter, Mariela Castro, currently heads the Cuban National Center for Sex Education, and her son, Alejandro Castro Espín, is a Colonel in the Ministry of Interior. Although it has been widely reported that Espín and Raúl Castro were separated or divorced, they appeared together regularly, and the Cuban government has never confirmed the status of their marriage.