Remembering a Cuban Patriot: The Papers of Colonel Ernesto Fonts y Sterling

Join us as Dr. Lisandro Pérez, the great-grandson of Colonel Ernesto Fonts y Sterling, presents on the Colonel’s life. Dr. Pérez's talk will feature highlights from the Colonel's papers, which were recently donated to the Cuban Heritage Collection. His talk will be preceded by words on behalf of the family by Carlos Fonts Boullosa, grandson of Colonel Fonts. After the presentation there will be a question and answer session.

Colonel Ernesto Fonts y Sterling (1869-1918) served his country not only in the battlefield, but also in the even more difficult task of building a new nation. Perhaps because of his untimely death at the age of 48, Fonts y Sterling did not receive the recognition bestowed on many of the veterans of the Cuban War for Independence (1895-1898). His papers reveal a courageous warrior and a conscientious and dutiful public official whose honesty gained him the trust of the leaders whose correspondence form part of his archive.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Lisandro Pérez, Ph.D.

Professor, John Jay College, City University of New York, and great-grandson of Colonel Ernesto Fonts y Sterling

Lisandro Pérez is a professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at John Jay College, City University of New York. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Florida and his B.A. degree from the University of Miami. He was on the faculty of Florida International University for 25 years, where he served as director of its Cuban Research Institute, which he established in 1991. He was editor of the journal "Cuban Studies," and author of numerous publications on Cuba and Cuban Americans. His most recent book, "Sugar, Cigars, and Revolution: The Making of Cuban New York" (New York University Press, 2018) won the Herbert H. Lehman Prize for Distinguished Scholarship in New York History, awarded by the New York Academy of History. Read more »

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