Menocal, Ofelia

Pessoa singular

Menocal, Ofelia

1920-2012

Ofelia Garcia-Menocal y Brito (1920-2012) was a Cuban exile and ex-political prisoner born in Havana who lived in Madrid, Spain after fleeing from political persecution in Cuba. She was the daughter of Fausto García-Menocal y Deop, a general in the Cuban War of Independence, and Ofelia Brito y Mederos, and the sister of Fausto García Menocal y Brito who was a member of the anti-Castro Brigade 2506 that participated in the Bay of Pigs Invasion. She was also the niece of Aurelio Mario Gabriel Francisco García Menocal y Deop who was the 3rd president of Cuba, serving from 1913 to 1921. She was said to be interested in political affairs from a young age, influenced by the careers of her father and uncle.

Menocal received a degree in Law from the University of Havana, one of very few women to do so at the time. After the Cuban Revolution of 1959, Menocal was critical of the Castro regime and was persecuted for her clandestine counterrevolutionary activities and was taken as a political prisoner in 1973. Eventually, she married the French diplomat Luis de Montgrelet and left Cuba for Europe, eventually settling in Madrid, Spain.

She was Secretary of International Relations of the Federación Mundial de Ex-presos Políticos Cubanos en Europa. Even in exile from Cuba, Menocal was politically active and worked tirelessly against the post-1959 regime.

In 2007, la Federación Española de Asociaciones Cubanas (FECU) honored her, Héctor Palacios, and Gisela Delgado for their efforts for the freedom of Cuba.

Parcial

Biographical note written by Kate Villa, 2020-2021 UGrow Fellow for Manuscripts and Archives Management.

1. Bitácora Participativa: MARIA ARGELIA VIZCAINO (bitacoraparticipativa.blogspot.com)

2. Baracutey Cubano: Muere en Madrid la activista y destacada patriota cubana Ofelia García-Menocal