Bayamo, February 19 (RHC)-- Granmenses paid tribute this Sunday in Bayamo, capital of the eastern Cuban province, to Pedro Felipe Figueredo Cisneros, Perucho, one of the most illustrious founding fathers of the nation and creator of the Cuban National Anthem.

In the first free square of the largest of the Antilles, where different generations converged, a wreath was placed in front of his bust and the 206th anniversary of the birth of the hero was remembered, on 18 February 1818, considered one of the patricians of the first independence struggle of this nation.

Since he was a child, he had an inclination for music and his other great love was the independence of Cuba, which is why his house, where today one of the post office units and the provincial office is located, became the main centre of the separatist conspiracies in his hometown. On 14 August 1867, the local Revolutionary Committee was formed in his home and he was a member of it.

The commemoration highlighted that Perucho transcended in time, not only for his patriotism and independence ideas, but also for having provided us with symbols of Cuban national identity and national identity for the world.  

The Master in Social Sciences (MSc.) Ludín Bernardo Fonseca García, historian of the city of Bayamo, said that today "his image comes to mind sitting on the saddle of his horse, writing the notes of the Cuban Patriotic Hymn, which became the National Anthem, on October 20, 1868, in the square of the parish of Bayamo, surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd".

He recalled that Perucho Figueredo, lived through a prolific period of thinkers and managed to stand out for his broad cultural formation. He left Bayamo at the age of 15 to continue his education, first in Havana and then in Spain.Because of his polemical gifts, he was called "el gallito bayamés" (the cockerel from Bayamo). He returned from Europe to his hometown in 1842 and immediately displayed his leadership, worked in the Philharmonic Society, wrote articles and chronicles about his native region and other subjects, which he published in the domestic and foreign press, and also devoted himself to staging plays. 
   
He was a man of universal culture.The Colombian writer Germán Arciniega said of him: "What a great man, the great Perucho, what a romantic, what a fine man!Perucho Figueredo's greatness lay in having been one of the founders of the Cuban nation, and in being part of that generation of 1968 characterised by his sacrifice, altruism, honesty and radical pro-independence thinking.