José Calixto Marichal Negrín, was born on October 14, 1899, in the neighborhood of Govea, San Antonio de los Baños. He always sang to earth and human virtues. He pointed out the poverty of the peasant, the hazards of nature and composed a series of tenths on these issues. Since he was very young, he joins the peasant movement and sang on radio shows and contests. He was a tireless agricultural worker.
He reflected in his tenths the anguish and despair of the people. Similarly, he addressed the subject of nature through verses full of poetic simplicity. The quality and popularity of his verses led to the germination of the path that led him to be one of the pillars of the Cuban tenth.
In 1932 he composed the work ''Desventuras actuales" (Current Misfortunes) considered as "prophetic". He had a great interest in books and was able, by his personal management in 1938, to publish his title Ecos del Ariguanabo, which includes verses dedicated to the family, to Govea, to Ariguanabo and mainly to the Homeland. It was a star of peasant guateques, Spanish salons and radio and television programs.
José Calixto Marichal Negrín was associated with poets from different parts of the country, among them the Indio Naborí, Ángelito Valiente, Justo Vega, among others. In 1938 he joins the Ariguanabo Trio. Among his controversies include the book El libro, with Justo Vega:
The book is like a rosebush // and its pages better // are beautiful as the flowers // of a spring garden. // His wisdom, his intellectual, // his magnificent writing // It is like the pure essence; // that's why I say judicious // That the book is like a beautiful // rosebush of literature.
