Jorge Agostini

Jorge Agostini Villasana (5 February 1910 – 9 June 1955) was a Cuban military and government official, leading revolutionary, and athlete.

Jorge Felipe Agostini Villasana was born 5 February 1910 in Mayarí, Cuba.

Early in his life, Agostini became active in military activities.

In September 1926, at the age of sixteen, he entered the Mariel Naval School, where he would graduate in 1931 as an alférez de fragata (frigate lieutenant).

He was then assigned to the gunboat Patria, and later to serve directly under the orders of the Chief of the Northern Naval District of Cuba.

Agostini opposed Fulgencio Batista's coup in January 1934 and was therefore discharged from the Navy that February.

He went into exile in the United States where he joined the military apparatus of the Organización Auténtica/"Authentic Organization" (OA) which was led by Emilio Laurent.

He returned to Cuba following the political amnesty law of 1935, after which he became active in international sports on behalf of Cuba.

Agostini participated in the 3rd Central American Sports Games where he won a silver medal in épée as well as a bronze medal in foil.

However, as Batista's regime continued its repressive policies, Agostini again fled to the United States in 1936.

While in New York he joined groups that plotted to overthrow Batista, however these efforts where ultimately stifled by internal divisions.

Agostini left the United States for Spain in 1937 to fight in defense of the Spanish Republic against the rise of Francisco Franco's forces.

In Spain he was appointed technical commander in artillery and assigned to the destroyer ship Ulloa.

While aboard the Ulloa he participated in the sinking of the Baleares, the flagship of the Falangist navy.

By 1938 Agostini was commanding a C-4 submarine and participated in several battles, as a result he would be wounded twice.

In the battle of Tcherchell off the coast of Morocco he successfully oversaw the sinking of the cruiser Canarias. In a morale contribution during the war, the Cuban brigade had its own battle hymn that was titled "Combatientes de la libertad" ("Freedom fighters"); set to music by popular Cuban composer Julio Cuevas Díaz, with its lyrics rewritten by Agostini (then Secretary of the Contingent), to read "We are the volunteers, the freedom fighters / black and white, of all races / united, united more and more / for democracy and universal peace."

However, as the war turned in favor of the Falangists, the Republican forces tasked Agostini, now with the rank of colonel, as among the chiefs responsible for the transfer of the International Brigades to Barcelona and ultimately out of Spain later that year.

Upon reaching France through the Pyrenees with other ex-combatants as well as refugees, Agostini was detained by French forces in camps for processing for an extended period before finally being released to Cuba in 1940.

After returning to Cuba, Agostini would travel to the United States now as an economic rather than political emigrant.

He resided on the small merchant cargo ship Mambí, of which he was appointed captain.

On 19 February 1941, he was reinstated in the Cuban Navy with his former rank and subsequently appointed professor of artillery at his alma mater, the Mariel naval school, and later as head of the Boca de Mariel post.

After the outbreak of World War II, Agostini would once again ascend rapidly through various posts.

He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in February 1942 and was assigned to the US naval flotilla that operated within Cuban ports.

The following year he was sent to undergo a tactical course in anti-submarine warfare at the Training Center in Miami, Florida.

In 1944 he became chief of several surface units of the Cuban navy as well as chief of the Boca de Camarioca naval post and, as an officer, he was transferred to the Directorate Department of the General Staff.

The June 1944 election of Ramón Grau San Martín as President of the Republic proved to be pivotal for Agostini's career as he became close to Grau's inner circle.

He was first transferred to the Directorate Department of the General Staff of the Navy shortly after the election.

In March 1945 he was appointed Assistant to the Chief of the Army and a month later was assigned to the Commission of the Military House within the Palatine Mansion.

Finally, on 17 May Agostini was appointed Grau's Head of the Secret Service of the Presidential Palace.

Though it had been over a decade since his silver and bronze wins for fencing in the Third Central American Games, in 1946 he was crowned the Central American foil holder in Barranquilla, Colombia.

In 1947 he joined the "Cayo Confites" plan to depose neighboring Dominican dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo.

Aboard the Cinco Hermanas he was transporting a shipment of explosives when he received urgent instructions to anchor in Cárdenas Bay and go to the Presidential Palace, where he was informed that President Grau decided to suspend the project's execution.

Agostini then continued as the Head of the Palace Secret Service although he eventually ceased to perform many of the effective tasks of the position during part of the terms of Grau and the new president, Carlos Prío Socarrás (elected in 1948), due to frequent political and ethical disputes with both presidents.

As his governmental duties reduced during this period from the end of Grau's term and into Prío's, Agostini turned his focus back to international competitive athletics, especially fencing.

He qualified for the 1948 Summer Olympics in London and took seventh place in his elimination series.

In the 1950 VI Central American and Caribbean Games in Guatemala he won silver in individual foil and gold in team foil as well as fourth place in individual saber.

In February and March 1951 he obtained what would be his last regional fencing medals: a silver medal in team foil and bronze medal in team épée at the first Pan American Sports Games held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Alongside his fencing career, Agostini also practiced competitive pistol shooting.

He was a frequent champion for Cuba in caliber 22, 38 and 45 shooting.

He also was part of the National Team in the World Shooting Championship in Los Angeles, California, in September 1951, and represented Cuba in several competitions in North America, including Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico and mainland United States.