Martha Frayde Barraqué Papers

Identity elements

Name and location of repository

Level of description

Collection

Title

Martha Frayde Barraqué Papers

Date(s)

  • 1957-1966 (Creation)
  • 1962-1966 (Creation)

Extent

4 Boxes

Name of creator

Biographical history

Born in Havana, Cuba in 1920, Martha Frayde Barraqué studied medicine at the University of Havana and at at McGill University in Canada.

Frayde was active in the Cuban Revolution, founding and directing Cuba's National Hospital and its nursing school. She had close ties to Fidel and Raul Castro and Ché Guevara. Frayde served as Cuba's representative to UNESCO until 1965, when she returned to Cuba and became active in the dissident movement. With Ricardo Bofill, she founded the Comité Cubano Pro Derechos Humanos (Cuban Committee for Human Rights) in 1976.

In July of that year, she was arrested as a counterrevolutionary and sentenced to 29 years in prison. She was released almost four years later and has lived in exile in Spain since 1979.

Name of creator

Biographical history

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

The Martha Frayde Barraqué Papers consist of letters from the Cuban painter Wifredo Lam (1902-1982) to Frayde dating between 1962 and 1966.  The collection also includes a group photograph of Lam and Frayde in Mexico in 1957.

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use elements

Conditions governing access

Physical access

The letters in this collection are in very fragile condition.  The collection is closed for research until the letters can be digitally reformatted.

Technical access

Conditions governing reproduction

Preferred citation: Martha Frayde Barraqué Papers, Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, Florida.

Languages of the material

  • French
  • Spanish

Scripts of the material

Language and script notes

Finding aids

Generated finding aid

Acquisition and appraisal elements

Custodial history

Immediate source of acquisition

Gift of Martha Frayde Barraqué, 2006; and the Estate of Martha Frayde Barraqué, 2015.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

Accruals

Additions to this collection are expected.

Related materials elements

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Selected materials from this collection have been digitized.

https://digitalcollections.library.miami.edu/digital/collection/chc5223

Related archival materials

Martha Frayde Barraqué donated her collection of Cuban art to the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami in 2006.  Her donation included works by Wifredo Lam, Amelia Peláez, Fidelio Ponce, Gina Pellón, Raúl Milián, Víctor Manuel, Manuel Mendive, Lorenzo Mena, Roberto Estopiñán, René Portocarrero, Julio Matilla, Servando Cabrera Moreno, Waldo Díaz-Balart, Baruj Salinas, Jorge Camacho, Hernán García, José Mijares, Andrés Lacau, Héctor Moltó, and other Cuban artists.

Related descriptions

Notes element

General note

Other Information:

Sponsor Note: This collection was processed with the support of a grant from The Goizueta Foundation.

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Description control element

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Sources used

Archivist's note

Processed by Maria R. Estorino, November 2009. Finding aid subjects terms assigned by Ana D. Rodríguez, February 2013. Finding aid updated by Natalie Baur, June 2015. Updated by Rebeca Gonzalez, May 2021.

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