Félix Tanco

Life

Born Félix Manuel de Jesús Tanco y Bosmeniel in Bogotá, Colombia, he arrived in Cuba at a very young age.

He was considered the most radical writer of the epoch speaking against the injustices committed by the colonial government. He wrote at length against slavery and the despotic treatment that many blacks suffered under its authoritarian rule.

In the narrative of his masterpiece Petrona y Rosalía, he spoke about the cruelty inflicted onto the slaves by the ruling master class that was backed by the colonial government. He spoke against the white elitism that predominated in society, which was always protected by a group with special interests in the promulgation and the expansion of the slave trade.

In 1834, while speaking up against the social inequities, Tanco was charged in the judicial court by Governor Miguel Tacón y Rosique for writing an article about slavery. The article had been published in the literary magazine La Aurora de Matanzas that same year. In the article, Tanco respectfully urged the Governor to eradicate, among other things, gambling, bribes, and the slave trade. The governor thought that the article was an insult to his authoritative rank, so he charged him with insubordination against the government.

Bibliography

Literary criticism of Félix Tanco's publications

References

References

1. Rodriguez-Arenas, Flor María. (2006). "Bibliografía de La Literatura Colombiana del Siglo XIX- Tomo II(M-Z)". Stockcero, Inc..
2. Gomariz, José. (2005). "Colonialismo e independencia cultural: la narración del artista e intelectual hispanoamericano del siglo XIX". Verbum Editorial.
3. (1861). "Cuba poética: Colección escogida de las composiciones en verso de los poetas cubanos desde Zequeira hasta nuestros días". Impr. de la viuda de Barcina y comp..
4. Ghorbal, Karim (2012) "[http://mcv.revues.org/4428 Un radical discret: l'esclavage dans la pensée singulière de Félix Tanco Bosmeniel]". ''Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez. Nouvelle série'' 42.1: 227-249.
5. Branche, Jerome. (2006). "Colonialism and race in Luso-Hispanic literature". University of Missouri Press.
6. Domingo del Monte. (Aug 3, 1834) ''Carta de Domingo del Monte a Tomás Gener.'' Matanzas.