Carlos Manuel de Céspedes

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada was born in New York in 1871, the son of the independence leader Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Castillo. Educated in the United States, France, and Germany, he joined the Cuban war of independence in 1895 and served in both military and provincial government roles. He later earned a law degree in Havana, entered Congress, and represented Cuba in Italy and Argentina before his Washington posting. ¹

During the First World War, Céspedes sought American financing for Cuba’s extraordinary military and transport expenses. In October 1918, he requested a further $7.2 million under an existing credit, explaining that Havana had already advanced money to railways to move the sugar harvest. His accompanying account included army reorganization, naval repairs, a military hospital, and communications equipment. The State Department subsequently approved an additional $5 million advance. ²

The collapse of the postwar sugar market gave his work a different urgency. In August 1921, he asked Washington to support a proposed arrangement under which Germany would buy Cuban raw sugar, refine it, and supply it to France toward reparations. He argued that access to European buyers could ease Cuba’s glut and financial crisis. ³

Céspedes also pursued Cuba’s claim to the Isle of Pines and led its delegations to the Pan American scientific and financial congresses held in Washington in 1915 and 1920. After leaving the United States, he served as secretary of state and as minister in France. ^{1, 4}

He briefly became Cuba’s provisional president after Gerardo Machado’s fall in 1933, losing office during the September military upheaval. He subsequently represented Cuba in Spain before retiring in 1935. A member of the Cuban Academy of History and the author of legal and historical works, he died in Havana on 28 March 1939. ¹