The figure of Julio Antonio Mella has great significance for the Ariguanabenses. He gave us the honorable title of "Villa Roja", as a result of the anti-imperialist struggles and the revolutionary tradition that have always characterized the Ariguanabo. Today, we will talk about the life of this outstanding student leader, who was linked to our people.
Julio Antonio Mella was born on March 25, 1903 in Havana, son of Cecilia MacPartland and Nicanor Mella. In his birth certificate, he appears with his father's name and his mother's surname, as was usual for the so-called natural children of the time. As a young adult, he recovered his father's last name and adopted the name of Julio Antonio Mella.
In 1921, he studied Law, Philosophy and Literature at the University of Havana. He liked to play sports and represented the university in Rowing, Athletics, Basketball and Football. He founded a magazine that is still published, Alma Máter, of which he was an administrator, proofreader, reporter and editorialist.
On December 20, 1922, he founded the University Student Federation (FEU) and months later organized the First National Congress of Students, which promoted the creation of the José Martí Popular University, to help young people with low income to graduate in different teachings. In San Antonio de los Baños, Mella founded in the Círculo de Trabajadores the Aula Magna of the José Martí Popular University.
In 1925, together with Carlos Baliño and other prominent revolutionaries, he founded the first Communist Party of Cuba. A year later, he published the pamphlet Glosas al pensamiento de Martí, an analysis of Marti's work from a Marxist perspective. For his revolutionary actions, he had to leave for Mexico, where he was killed on January 10, 1929.
Mella lived intensely. He set out to achieve physical, moral and intellectual fulfillment, to make himself a total man and he succeeded. His career demonstrates his moral qualities and his dedication to the cause of the oppressed. Mella is a symbol for the current Cuban youth.
