VI 



CUBANS OF T O - D A Y 



ot the Island; all six of the provinces and 

 almost every town in the Republic will 

 find their sons here, and if Havana seems 

 to have a disproportioned quota in the 

 list, this is due to the traditional disposi- 

 tion in Latin countries to make the capital 

 city the focus of the national life. 



The biographies of the elder men reflect 

 the tremendous part which the struggle for 

 Independence played in their time and 

 show how military prestige overshadowed 

 for a time other kinds of distinction just 

 as the lives of the younger men disclose the 

 increasing value being attached to scien- 

 tific, commercial, literary, and scholastic 

 attainments. 



Under the severe limitations of space 

 which the large number of studies inevit- 

 ably imposed, the aim has been kept 

 steadily in mind to write genuine "lives"; 

 and while avoiding bald summary and 

 mere eulogium alike, to produce miniature 

 but none the less veritable and, it may be 

 hoped, readable biographies. 



The obligations which the editor has 

 incurred while preparing this book are too 



HISPANIC NOTES 



