The Cuban Embassy in Italy commemorated on Sunday the 124th birthday anniversary of Italian artist and revolutionary Tina Modotti.
On the occasion, the text 'Letter to Tina Modotti' by German researcher Christiane Barckhausen-Canale, was presented. In it, the author addresses the communist fighter born in Udine on August 16, 1896.
Modotti had 'a brief, but intense love affair' with Cuban revolutionary leader Julio Antonio Mella, who was assassinated by henchmen of the Machado regimen on January 10, 1929, in Mexico City.
'You two lived what few couples achieve: total reciprocal identification, made possible because you shared the same dream, the revolution,' the letter reads, adding: 'You with your photographs, Mella with his articles and the organization of Cubans living in exile in Mexico, tried to raise the awareness of the oppressed masses.'
‘Had you lived longer, Tina, you would have seen the creation in Cuba of the Young Communists League (UJC), whose members wear a badge on their shirt with a photo of Mella that you took in 1928 in Mexico,’ the German researcher further wrote.
Christiane Barckhausen-Canale is considered an expert in the life and work of the Italian artist and revolutionary.
She wrote the book 'Truth and Legend of Tina Modotti', winner of the coveted Casa de las Americas Prize in 1988. She was also instrumental in creating the Tina Modotti Archive, in the Italian city of Bonefro.
