University of North Carolina Press Celia Sßnchez Manduley: The Life and Legacy of a Cuban Revolutionary (Envisioning Cuba)

Review Terrific. . . . Meet a woman whose saintly image belies a record of accomplishment all the more remarkable for unfolding in a sexist society that regarded the New Woman as the physical, psychological, and sexual helpmeet of the New Man. Revealing the person behind the revered Sanchez image required deft and relentless excavation on Sippial's part.--HAHRAn intriguing expedition into the life of a woman who was a significant contributor to the Cuban insurrection and a principal architect of the first two decades of the revolutionary government that followed. . . . A thoughtful biography of an under-examined life.--International Feminist Journal of PoliticsThis gendered biography of Cuban guerrilla and Communist Party leader Celia Sanchez Manduley highlights how Sanchez maneuvered between traditional and nontraditional roles. Using letters from Sanchez, accounts by rebel participants, and interviews with family and friends, Sippial. . . . Explores the mythical memory of Sanchez as Fidel's companion and Cuba's mother. . . . This is a well-written biography.--CHOICESippial's 'feminist biography' of Celia Sanchez Manduley, Fidel Castro's right-hand woman, seeks its famously private subject in official memorials, museums, press reports, family interviews, popular culture and a cache of personal papers - only to conclude that 'the 'real' Sanchez . . . is largely unknowable to us all'.--Times Literary SupplementSippial's biography, based on hundreds of interviews, suggests that in the end, [Celia Sanchez Manduley's] reticence might have been her greatest achievement, the performance that made everything else she accomplished possible.--Guernica Product Description Celia Sanchez Manduley (1920–1980) is famous for her role in the Cuban revolution. Clad in her military fatigues, this "first female guerrilla of the Sierra Maestra" is seen in many photographs alongside Fidel Castro. Sanchez joined the movement in her early thirties, initially as an arms runner and later as a combatant. She was one of Castro's closest confidants, perhaps lover, and went on to serve as a high-ranking government official and international ambassador. Since her death, Sanchez has been revered as a national icon, cultivated and guarded by the Cuban government. With almost unprecedented access to Sanchez's papers, including a personal diary, and firsthand interviews with family members, Tiffany A. Sippial presents the first critical study of a notoriously private and self-abnegating woman who yet exists as an enduring symbol of revolutionary ideals.Using the tools of feminist biography, cultural history, and the politics of memory, Sippial reveals the scope and depth of Sanchez's power and influence within the Cuban revolution, as well as her struggles with violence, her political development, and the sacrifices required by her status as a leader and "New Woman." Sippial reveals how Sanchez strategically crafted her own legacy within a history still dominated by bearded men in fatigues. About the Author Tiffany A. Sippial, associate professor of history at Auburn University, is the author of Prostitution, Modernity, and the Making of the Cuban Republic, 1840–1920.