Mariana Grajales Coello (1808 – 1893) was a national figure in the Cuban struggle for independence in the 19th century. Alongside her husband and sons, she fought in the Ten Years War of Independence.
The Wars of Independence in Latin America
Mariana Grajales was born on June 26, 1808 in Santiago de Cuba, the second city of the island located at its southern tip -is. His parents, Teresa Cuello and José Grajales, are of Dominican origin, of African and Spanish descent, and own land. The island of Cuba was then under Spanish domination, and slavery prevailed there.
At 23, Mariana is getting married for the first time. With her husband, Fructuoso Regüeiferos, she had four sons before his death in 1840. Eleven years later, Mariana married Marcos Maceo, who fought in the Venezuelan war of independence. She moves in with him in his finca (property in the countryside) in Majaguabo, north of Santiago de Cuba. Mariana and her husband have nine more children, whom they are raising with high moral values and with stories of independence movements in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly in Venezuela and Haiti.
The Ten Years War
In October 1868, Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, nobleman and landowner, freed his slaves and founded an army to wage a war of independence. This is the beginning of what will be the Ten Years War. Two days later, rebels go to Mariana and Marcos and ask them for help in the fight against the Spaniards. Both agree. Marcos and several of their sons join their fights; Mariana closely follows the advances of the rebels, managing hospitals for the wounded and organizing the supply of troops. Acquired to the cause, she does not hesitate to enter the battlefields to treat the wounded, and does not neglect to take care of the Spaniards as well. Her commitment did not weaken when her husband and several of her sons died in combat.
The insurrection was defeated in 1878, after having nevertheless obtained the abolition of slavery. Mariana Grajales and her family are stripped of their land and property. Several of her sons, having fought during the revolt, were wanted to be executed and Mariana went into exile in Jamaica at the end of the war. From there, she continued her work for independence by forming patriotic associations within the community of exiled Cubans.
Mariana Grajales died in Kingston in November 1893, at the age of 85.