Agustín Acosta Papers

Identity elements

Name and location of repository

Level of description

Collection

Title

Agustín Acosta Papers

Date(s)

  • 1908-1998 (Creation)
  • 1970s (Creation)

Extent

25 Boxes

Name of creator

Biographical history

Agustín Acosta (1886-1979) was a Cuban post-modernist poet and politician active in the 20th century. Born in Matanzas, Cuba, in November 1886, he completed his preliminary studies in Matanzas and early on in his career started working as a telegraph operator for a Cuban railroad line, acting as head of the telegraph service from 1909 to 1920.

Acosta graduated with a law degree from the University of Havana in 1918, and went on to become a notary in 1921, exercising this profession in Jagüey Grande, Matanzas, until he was politically imprisoned during the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado. After the fall of the Machadato, Acosta served as provisional governor of Matanzas from 1933 to 1934. His other political offices included cabinet secretary to Carlos Mendieta, senator (1936-1944) and president of the Partido Unión Nacionalista (1936-1937).

A poet and a statesman, Acosta contributed both prose and poetry to various Cuban publications, most notably El Fígaro, El Cubano Libre, Socialand Carteles. Some of his well-known works of poetry include Ala(1915), La zafra(1926), Los camellos distantes(1936) and Caminos de hierro (1963), as well as multiple essays on José Martí.

Acosta left Cuba in 1972, living in Miami until his death in 1979.

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

The Agustín Acosta Papers contain the correspondence, writings and memorabilia of Agustín Acosta (1886-1979), named Cuba's National Poet in 1955.

The collection includes correspondence between Agustín Acosta and his literary and political contemporaries, as well as his wife, Consuelo Acosta.

Writings include published pamphlets from Acosta and other authors on topics ranging from poetry to politics and science; articles and clippings written by and about Acosta, as well as those collected by him and his wife; and manuscripts and galley proofs of Acosta's poetry books.

The collection also contains memorabilia related to Acosta's personal and professional life, including postcards; photographs; homages to the poet, both late in his career and posthumous; drawings and caricatures; and scrapbooks.

System of arrangement

The collection is arranged into six series: Correspondence; Pamphlets; Photographs and Memorabilia; Articles and Clippings; Writings; and Scrapbooks. Original order was preserved throughout.

Conditions of access and use elements

Conditions governing access

This collection is open for research.

Physical access

Technical access

Conditions governing reproduction

Requests to publish or display materials from this collection require written permission from the rights owner. Please contact chc@miami.edu for more information.

Preferred citation: Agustín Acosta Papers, Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, Florida.

Languages of the material

  • English
  • French
  • Italian
  • Spanish

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Custodial history

Immediate source of acquisition

Gift of Sara A. Orbón, 2012.

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Related archival materials

Seven boxes of books are to be added to the Cuban Heritage Collection holdings.

The Cuban Heritage Collection houses the papers of several correspondents from the Agustín Acosta Papers, listed below:

Eduardo Avilés Ramírez Collection

Roberto Cazorla Collection

Octavio R. Costa Papers

Cuban Historical and Literary Manuscripts Collection

Gabriel García Galán Collection

G.A.L.A. (Grupo Artístico Literario Abril) Records

Eugenio Florit Papers

Gustavo Godoy y Agostini Collection

Carlos Márquez-Sterling Papers

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Archivist's note

Processed by Amanda Moreno, August 2013. Updated by Rebeca Gonzalez, May 2021.

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