Vilma Espín
| Vilma Espín | |
|---|---|
Roadsign of Vilma Espín as a young woman
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Vilma Lucila Espín Guillois 7 April 1930 Santiago de Cuba |
| Died | 18 June 2007 (aged 77) Havana, Cuba |
| Spouse(s) | Raúl Castro |
| Relations |
Fidel Castro (brother-in-law) José Espín (father) Margarita Guillois (mother) Nilsa Espín Guillois (sister) Iván Espín Guillois (brother) Sonia Espín Guillois (sister) José Espín Guillois (brother) |
| Children | Deborah Castro Espín Mariela Castro Espín Nilsa Castro Espín Alejandro Castro Espín |
| Awards | Lenin Peace Prize 1977-78 |
Vilma Lucila Espín Guillois (April 7, 1930 – June 18, 2007) was a Cuban revolutionary, feminist, and chemical engineer. She was married to Raúl Castro, the current Cuban President, who is the brother to former Cuban President Fidel Castro. Espín had four children (Deborah - married to Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, Mariela, Nilsa, and Alejandro Castro Espín) and seven grandchildren. Her daughter, Mariela Castro, currently heads the Cuban National Center for Sex Education, and her son, Alejandro Castro Espín, is a Colonel in the Ministry of Interior. Espín was often described as "Cuba's First Lady".
Vilma Espín Guillois was born on April 7, 1930, in Santiago de Cuba the daughter of a wealthy Cuban lawyer, Jose Espín and wife Margarita Guillois. She had four siblings, Nilsa, Iván, Sonia and José. Espín attended Academia Pérez-Peña for primary school and studied ballet and singing at the Asociación Pro-Arte Cubano during the 1940s. In the 1950s, she studied chemical engineering at Universidad de Oriente, Santiago de Cuba (one of the first women in Cuba to study this subject), and post-graduate studies at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Returning home, she became more involved with the opposition to the dictator Fulgencio Batista. A meeting with revolutionary leader Frank País led her to become a leader of the revolutionary movement in Oriente province. Espín met the Castro brothers who had relocated to Mexico after their failed armed attack on the Moncada Barracks. Espin acted as a messenger between the Julio 26 Movement in Mexico and Pais back in Cuba. She then went on to assist the revolutionaries in the Sierra Maestra mountains after the 26th of July Movement's return to Cuba on the Granma yacht. She and Raúl married in January 1959.
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