Gerardo Machado
| Gerardo Machado | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 5th President of Cuba | |
|
In office 20 May 1925 – 12 August 1933 |
|
| Vice President | Carlos de la Rosa |
| Preceded by | Alfredo Zayas |
| Succeeded by | Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Gerardo Machado y Morales 28 September 1871 Manajanabo, Santa Clara, Spanish Cuba |
| Died | 29 March 1939 (aged 67) Miami Beach, Florida, United States |
| Nationality |
 Cuban
|
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) | Elvira Machado Nodal |
| Children | Laudelina (Nena) Machado-Machado Ángela Elvira Machado-Machado Berta Machado-Machado |
Gerardo Machado y Morales (28 September 1871 – 29 March 1939) was a general of the Cuban War of Independence and President of Cuba from 1925 to 1933.
Machado was born in the central Province of Las Villas (now Villa Clara). He had two younger siblings, a brother Carlos and a sister Consuelo. He married Elvira Machado Nodal (28 October 1868 in Villa Clara – 1968) and they had three daughters: Laudelina (Nena), Ángela Elvira and Berta.
He spent his childhood on his family's cattle farm and in his early 20s engaged in growing and selling tobacco. During Cuba's Ten Years' War against Spain (1868-1878), Machado's father joined the Cuban rebels and attained the rank of major.
When the Cubans launched their war against Spain in 1895, Machado joined the rebel forces and rose to the rank of brigadier general.
General Machado was one of the youngest Cuban generals in the Cuban War of Independence of 1895 to 1898. He fought in the middle provinces.
After the war ended, Machado turned to politics and business. He became mayor of Santa Clara and during the administration of José Miguel Gómez (1909-1913), he was appointed inspector of the armed forces and later secretary of interior. Soon after, he engaged in farming and in business investing in public utilities. He grew wealthy and returned to politics in the early 1920s.
Machado, said to be the party's war leader in Las Villas province, fought on the defeated Liberal side in the "Little War of February 1917” La Chambelona (Chambelona War), with José Miguel Gómez, Alfredo Zayas and with Enrique Loynaz del Castillo. Calixto Enamorado fought on the Conservative side. After the initial victories of the Liberals, things turned for the worse, yet Machado continued to fight even after the Liberals lost to the machine guns of Colonel Rosendo Collazo at Caicaje once the hacienda of Santiago Saura Orraque and Juan Manuel Perez de la Cruz on 8 March until his cause was unsustainable and surrendered.
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Wikipedia