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Lydia Cabrera
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==Early life and education== Born in [[Havana]] in 1899 as the youngest of eight siblings, Cabrera came from a family of high socio-economic status in Cuba. Her father, Raimundo Cabrera, was a writer, lawyer, prominent man in society, and an advocate for Cuba's independence. Her mother, Elisa Marcaida Casanova, was a housewife and respected socialite. Her father was also the president of the first Cuban corporation, La Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País, founded in the eighteenth century. He owned a popular literary journal, ''Cuba y America'', where Lydia got her first experience as a writer. At the age of thirteen, Cabrera wrote a weekly anonymous column that appeared in her father's journal. She covered topics relevant to her specific community, such as wedding announcements, births, or obituaries.<ref>Rodríguez-Mangual, E. "Introduction," ''Lydia Cabrera and the Construction of an Afro-Cuban Cultural Identity''. Chapel Hill: [[The University of North Carolina Press]], 2004: 7.</ref> The family had many Afro-Cuban servants and child caretakers, through whom young Lydia learned about African folklore, stories, tradition, and religions. Like the majority of wealthy Cubans in the early 1900s, the family had private [[tutors]] who came to the home of the Cabreras to educate the children. For a short period of time, she attended the private school of Maria Luisa Dolz. At that time it was not socially acceptable for a woman to pursue a high school [[diploma]], so Cabrera finished her secondary education on her own.<ref>Rodríguez-Mangual, E. "Introduction," 8.</ref> By 1927 Cabrera wanted to make money on her own and to become independent of her family. She moved to [[Paris]] to study art and religion at L'Ecole du Louvre <ref>"Lydia Cabrera," ''Encyclopedia of Cuba: People, history, culture''. Ed. Luis Martinez Fernandez 1st Vol. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2003: 321.</ref> She studied drawing and painting in Paris with theatrical Russian exile Alexandra Exter. Cabrera lived in Paris for 11 years and returned home in 1938. After graduating from [[Ecole du Louvre]], she did not become an artist as expected, instead moving back to Cuba to study [[Afro-Cuban]] culture, especially their [[traditions]] and [[folklore]]. In 1936, while in Paris, she published her first book, "Cuentos Negros".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tu3xtgAACAAJ|title=Great Houses of Havana: A Century of Cuban Style|last=Mallea|first=Hermes|date=2011|publisher=Monacelli Press|isbn=9781580932882|language=en}}</ref>
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