Born free from a slave womb, thanks to the sacrifice and will of his parents, Juan Gualberto Gómez came into the world on July 12, 1854 in the province of Matanzas, with the inalienable determination to fight for the emancipation of his and other countries of the world equally overwhelmed by opprobrium, for with he left an indelible mark in Cuban history.
He prepared and joined the last war for independence conceived by José Martí from exile, namely the Necessary War, launched on February 24, 1895, which set in relief his capacity and willingness to fight as well as the great trust and appreciation that the Cuban National Hero placed in him.
As a child, he enjoyed the help of his parents’ employer, whose great affection for the little boy led her to defray his studies, first in his home province, then in Havana and finally in France when she left in 1869 after the outbreak of the first War of Independence the year before.
While in Paris, good luck and determination allowed him to pursue academic studies and thus acquire a solid, principled culture and learn from the best and highest universal sources before returning to Cuba in 1878 and meeting José Martí, who had traveled to the island incognito, in the bitter days that marked the end of the Ten Years War with the ignoble Pact of Zanjón,
