CubaPLUS Magazine

Mother's Day returns on the second Sunday of May, as dictated by a tradition that seems to have always settled in the hearts of Cubans, it is so endearing to them. However, only it began to be celebrated since May 9, 1920, by a beautiful initiative born in the Havana town of Santiago de las Vegas.

They say that on the night of April 19 of that year, a small group of regular gentlemen went to a recreation center of that town, located on the outskirts of the Cuban capital, met as a custom and one of them, Francisco Montoto shared with his friends the idea of celebrating the Day of the Mothers and invited them to work with him so that this day of the year would exist as a tradition.

He had heard about the celebration promoted in Philadelphia by Miss Anna Jarvis, already successful. Their companions enthusiastically welcomed the beautiful idea. The following May 9, the first act of homage to mothers in Cuba was held at the Center for Instruction and Recreation, something to which journalist Víctor Muñoz gave his full support by publishing in the newspaper El Mundo, in its edition of May 10, with the emotional title “El día de las madres”.

In his work, he also advocated the permanence of that celebration. Thus began in the archipelago a tradition loved and respected by its inhabitants, which quickly gained adherents and enthusiasts and long ago became an official commemoration as well, as it happens in other countries of the planet, even with the promotion of the UN. Mothers present, those who are no longer here, and grandmothers have always been revered from the roots of the different components that make up our culture, especially Hispanic and African.

Each time has had a way of recognizing the role of the givers of life, but in Cuba the progenitors have always been placed on a pedestal that no one in their right mind dares to question or shoot down. On the contrary, it is a holy thing that only degenerates would not respect. "La pura" in the old popular lunfardo is the inexorable lady and only the incorrigible ones that always exist disobey, but do not dare to confront.

To the cult of mothers, always strong for being a symbol of unconditional love, extreme sacrifice, strength and principles, is added in those times the strength of warriors, combativeness, perseverance, solidarity and hard work by the communities in which they live.

 There are mothers of families and those who are teachers, doctors, nurses, engineers, peasants, workers, lawyers, construction companies, journalists, artists, generals, combatants, social workers... All trades have had to open their doors to today's bold and unrepeatable mothers and grandmothers. Thus, tradition and current affairs color and enrich the inevitable festival of Mothers’ Day in Cuba, Day of joy and deep nostalgia. A Day of fondness, beyond the resources you have for the celebration.