In Memoriam: Esperanza Bravo de Varona

• By: admin
• On: 06/07/2023 21:20:24
• In: In Memoriam

In Memoriam: Esperanza Bravo de Varona 
On February 23, 2023, the Latin Americanist librarian and archival community lost a dear colleague, Esperanza Bravo de Varona, at the age of 95. Esperanza was the founding director of the Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami Libraries. Her tireless commitment to preserving the history and culture of Cuba and its diaspora will be remembered by colleagues, researchers, students, and the global Cuban diaspora community. Through her 46 years of service to the University of Miami, she built the largest and most comprehensive collection on Cuba and its diaspora outside of the island, securing funding and community support to ensure the Collection's growth and prosperity. Esperanza was a SALALM member from 1981 until her retirement from the profession in 2013. Her first SALALM publication was a 1974 index of the magazines Alacrán Azul, Cuadernos del Hombre Libre, Exilio, and Revista Cubana, co-authored with Rosa Abella. She then went on to publish papers such as Publicaciones periodicas del exilio cubano (1989) and Cuban and Cuban-American Bilingual Archives in the University of Miami Library (1995) in the SALALM Conference Proceedings. Through the SALALM Secretariat, she published standalone works such as Cuban Exile Periodicals at the University of Miami Library: An Annotated Bibliography (1987) and Posters of the Cuban Diaspora: A Bibliography (1993). Her contributions to the profession are remembered dearly by her colleagues and the Cuban diaspora community. She will be missed, but her legacy lives on in the work that continues at the Cuban Heritage Collection.

Esperanza Bravo de Varona, who helped found the Cuban Heritage Collection, passes away (miami.edu)