Thomas Genova

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Decimonónica

Volume

13

Issue

1

Publisher

Decimonónica

Publication Date

2016

First Page

66

Last Page

86

Abstract

In its canonical 1882 form, Cirilo Villaverde’s well-known novel Cecilia Valdés tells the story of the illicit relations between the creole aristocrat Leonardo Gamboa and the mulata Cecilia Valdés who, unbeknownst to them both, is his half-sister.1 The relationship ends in tragedy when Leonardo, after marrying the creole heiress Isabel Illincheta, is murdered by José Dionisio, an Afro-Cuban rival for Cecilia’s affections. Through the machinations of Leonardo’s mother, doña Rosa, Cecilia is imprisoned for the crime. Yet, while this story has been immortalized in multiple editions and adaptations, most notably Gonzalo Roig’s 1932 zarzuela and Humberto Solas’s 1982 film, in 1839—forty-three years before the definitive text—,Villaverde published two earlier and very different versions of Cecilia Valdés that, unfortunately, have not received the scholarly attention that they deserve.2 The first, penned in response to a friend who asked for a description of the Festival of Saint Rafael in the El Ángel neighborhood of Havana (Croguennec-Massol 1), appeared in two parts as a short story in the magazine La siempreviva (Luis 100) and was republished in 1910 by the Editorial Cuba Intelectual under the title “La primitiva Cecilia Valdés.” The second, a novella, was published, also by Cuba Intelectual, under the title Cecilia Valdés, o la Loma del Ángel. Tomo I and has not been reprinted since.

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