Historians relate the life, idiosyncrasy and customs of the people, immortalizing them on texts that last for centuries. San Antonio de los Baños has living memories through José Rafael Lauzán, its historian for 60 years.
On October 21, 1938, José Rafael Lauzán was appointed Official Historian of the City. During his long revolutionary and professional career, José Rafael Lauzán was a constant cultural promoter and a tenacious defender of the town's historical traditions. He published several historical research papers including: "Notes for the History of San Antonio de los Baños" from 1940 to 1944, and "Ariguanabense Colonial History", in 1994. One year after his death he was posthumously named Illustrious Son of the Ariguanabo.
In 1930, he joined the International Labor Effort organization and later the Communist Revolutionary Union and the Popular Socialist Party. He was president of the Cultural Association "Faro" in San Antonio de los Baños. From 1933 to 1935, he was sentenced to the Model Presidio on the former Isle of Pines, due to his opposition to the Machado regime and for the revolutionary activities to which he was linked.
Although he died, he left a documentary legacy that is currently consulted as bibliographic sources by students and researchers from the municipality. In his words, the symbols of this land of tobacco, river and culture are reflected; Thus the new generations can feel, as if they had lived centuries ago, what it means to be an ariguanabense.
