Lesbia Soravilla

Lesbia Soravilla (22 May 1906 – January 1989^[1]) was a Cuban writer, feminist and activist, prominent in the feminist movement of the 1920s and 1930s.^[2] Her work, including poetry and novels, dealt with feminist issues. Her novels include El dolor de vivir (1932) and Cuando liberan las esclavas (1936).

Born in Camagüey, Soravilla worked as a journalist for El Mundo.^[3] As an activist, Soravilla participated in the founding of several organizations for the rights of women such as the Club Femenino de Cuba (Women's Club of Cuba) and the Unión Nacional de Mujeres (National Union of Women), along with other writers such as Ofelia Rodríguez Acosta, Berta Arocena de Martínez Márquez, Julieta Carreta and Tete Casuso. With Acosta, she belonged to the group of the first exponents of the so-called "cuento caribeño" ("Caribbean story"), a group of Caribbean writers who sought to defend the rights of women in their respective countries.^[4] Along with Graziela Garbalosa, Soravilla was marginalized, leading to a discovery of personal freedom.^[5] She associated with additional activist writers of the time, such as Irma Pedroso, Dulce Maria Loynaz, and Flora Diaz Parrado.^[6]

Writing on the influence of Hollywood movies on women in Cuba, Soravilla noted that the effect was clearly seen among all sections of women, irrespective of their class distinction. It had an effect on the maids also who, in particular, during their break period from work, would present themselves with makeup in a charming and appealing way.^[7]

In her novel Cuando libertan los esclaves published in 1936, Soravilla has one of the female characters express her inability to break a marriage even though her husband was abusive, considering the negative approach in the society towards divorce, particularly because of the high status of her parents in the society.^[8]

In another novel titled El dolor de-vivir published in 1932, Soravilla has brought out, in a conversational mode between a female activist and her writer friend, the changing approach in a society women from a fashionable lady to a political activist whose writings about feminist movement made her very popular.^[9] In this feminist novel, she also incorporates the personage of Mariblanca Sabas Alomá into the fictional setting, a dialogue between a free love advocate and a writer.^[9]

Selected works

• El dolor de-vivir (1932)
• Cuando libertan los esclaves (1936)

References

Bibliography

• Bejel, Emilio (1 September 2001). Gay Cuban Nation. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-04174-2. 
• Pérez Jr., Louis A. (25 April 2005). To Die in Cuba: Suicide and Society. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-1-4696-0874-7. 
• Pérez Jr., Louis A. (1 September 2012). On Becoming Cuban: Identity, Nationality, and Culture: Identity, Nationality, and Culture. UNC Press Books. ISBN 978-1-4696-0141-0. 
• Pichardo, Roberto Daniel Agramonte y (1 January 1991). Las doctrinas educativas y políticas de Martí (in Spanish). La Editorial, UPR. ISBN 978-0-8477-2497-0. 
• Scarano, Francisco Antonio; Zamora, Margarita (1 January 2007). Cuba: contrapuntos de cultura, historia y sociedad. Margarita Zamora. ISBN 978-1-881748-60-1. 
• Stoner, K. Lynn; Pérez, Luís Hipólito Serrano (January 2000). Cuban and Cuban-American Women: An Annotated Bibliography. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-8420-2643-7. 
• Unruh, Vicky (3 June 2009). Performing Women and Modern Literary Culture in Latin America: Intervening Acts. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-77374-5.