|
485TH ANNIVERSARY OF HAVANA
The Italian influence
BY ALBERTO POZO
—Special for Granma International—
OF
course, the first Italian who visited us was the
Genoese-born Admiral of the ocean Christopher
Columbus from October 21-27, 1492.
Almost a century afterwards, the famous engineer
Giovanni Battista Antonelli arrived in Havana to
construct the El Morro and La Punta fortresses at
the entrance of the bay where the Spanish fleet met
up with its cargo of gold and silver, the coveted
prize of English, French and Dutch corsairs. He also
built the Palace of Obispo – today the Don Giovanni
restaurant – and finished work on the Zanja,
Havana’s first aqueduct, which ended at Callejón del
Chorro in Plaza de la Catedral.
But
by then, there was already a community of around 300
Italian traders (smugglers perhaps?) in Havana,
because the city was the center of trade for Spain’s
American empire.
In
1613, the Mantova brigantine, under the command of
Captain Anatolli Florenzano, ran aground in the Los
Colorados cays in northwestern Cuba. They abandoned
ship and sailed to Los Arroyos in order to set up
camp in that area. They brought with them the image
of the Virgin de las Nieves and built a chapel in a
spot that would become the city of Mantua, the old
name for Montova, a city in Italy.
Italians continued to arrive in Cuba. They had an
eminent position in the arts and sciences. From the
16th century, we should mention Giroland Benzoni,
who wrote The History of the New World in our
country.
In
the 19th century, the artist Guiseppe Pirovani
created the oil paintings The Assumption and The
Final Judgement. In 1952, after taking his exams
Marcello Morolli earned the directorship of the San
Alejandro Arts Academy. The quality of the retreat
of Parque Central is owed to its director, Italian
Giovanni Brechin.
In
the field of sciences, one name that stands out is
that of Dr. Pablo Zeglia who in 1833 opened his
surgery and at the same time founded an academy of
literature. Dr. Giuseppe Tasso installed the first
chemical laboratory in the country, as well as being
a professor at the San Ambrosio hospital. And there
were many other physicians such as Giuseppe Chippi,
founder of the Anatomy Office.
Another individual who deserves a mention is
technician Antonio Meucci from Teatro Tacón (1849)
who invented the telephone before Graham Bell in
this period. This dispute was taken to the United
States, but the U.S. inventor was awarded credit for
the invention until recently.
During the 19th century, Italian cuisine was already
very popular. “How I love the aristocratic and
favorite unforgettable raviolis.” (Dolores María
Ximeno y Cruz, in Memorias de Lola Maria.
1861). The new Cuban bourgeoisie of generals and
doctors also enjoyed Italian cuisine. “The wines
were French, German, Italian. The conserves were
Spanish, French and Italian.”
(René Méndez Capote, Memorias de una Cubanita que
nació con el Siglo).
There were many Italian restaurants throughout the
20th century: La Piccola Italia, in Consulado
Street; Frascatti on Prado; Montecattini in Vedado.
But
the absolute popularization of Italian food came in
1960 with the opening of an extensive network of
pizzerias throughout the whole of the country, a
task carried out by the socialist Revolution. Today,
it can be said that pizza, spaghetti, macaroni, and
lasagna form part of the culinary heritage of the
Cuban people.
There will be an extensive display of Italian
cuisine and others that have taken root in the
country, at the Culinaria 2004 International
Festival, from September 13-19 at the Hotel Nacional
and later, during the November 2004 celebrations for
the 485th anniversary of the founding of Havana.
|
