Cabrera, Lydia (1899–1991)

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Cabrera, Lydia (1899–1991)

Cuban-born author and ethnologist. Name variations: (pseudonym) Nena en Sociedad (Little Girl in Society). Born May 20, 1899, in Havana, Cuba; died Sept 19, 1991, in Miami, Florida; dau. of Raimundo Cabrera, well-known lawyer, politician and writer, and Elisa Bilbao; studied art at San Alejandro Academy; pursued a degree in Oriental art at the Louvre in Paris; lover and partner of María Teresa de Rojas (historian); longtime companion of Teresa de la Parra (novelist).

Leading authority on Afro-Cuban culture and religion, particularly santeria, undertook a lengthy study of Cuban-African culture and established contact with the Yorubas (black cubans); published 1st book of fiction Contes négres de Cuba (Black Stories from Cuba, 1936); other works include Pourquoi contes nègres de Cuba (Why Black Stories from Cuba, 1954), El monte (The Forest, 1954), Anaforuana (1975), Otán Iyebiye (1986), and a Congolese dictionary.

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