Francisco Calderón Rodríguez was a respected master of the Masonic Lodge Luz del Ariguanabo and one of the founders of the Artisans Circle. This ariguanabense offered the words when the commemorative plaque was placed in the birthplace of José Martí. He was born on January 30, 1851. As a young man he comes to San Antonio de los Baños and is dedicated to the administration of farms and haciendas, including the Nueva Empresa mill. Francisco Calderón was a venerable master of the Masonic Lodge Luz del Ariguanabo, an institution that cultivated culture and supported different organizations. This remarkable man was also one of the founders of the Artisans Circle.
In 1886, he founded and directed the separatist newspaper La Aspiración, with the collaboration of Julio Rosas, for which Contreras was persecuted by the Spanish forces. The civil governor succeeded in dismissing the mayor Pedro María Valdés and the Cuban councilors who had formed the autonomist City Council through intrigues. Given this situation, Calderón organized a demonstration of more than 2,000 people who protested and went to the house of the deposed mayor.
Francisco Calderón Rodríguez stood out as a teacher in the Masonic Lodge Luz del Ariguanabo and in the founding of the Circle of Artisans in 1881. In 1884, he directed the newspaper El Bat in Havana, along with Eduardo Pineda. He emigrated later, and in Cayo Hueso he directed his work to the service of the independence of Cuba. There, he made friends with José Martí, Estrada Palma, Gonzalo de Quesada and other Cuban notables. During the emigration, he was president of the San Carlos Club in Key West and worked in the tobacco industry at the Tobacco Trust.
He returned to Cuba in 1899, commissioned by revolutionary Cuban émigrés, to place a commemorative tombstone in the house where Martí was born on January 28, 1853. In this memorable act, Calderón spoke some words, which were later commented on by the press. In 1901 he began working in the Tabacalero Trust until 1912. Later, he was employed by the Lottery Income, in the General Treasury of the Republic.
