Poet, Painter, Writer, and Journalist. He is considered the Father of Cuban Independence. A poem from his book of collective poems "Versos Sencillos" was later put to music, becoming the song "Guantanamera," one of Cuba's most famous musical pieces. Born in Havana, Cuba, to Mariano Martí and Leonor Pérez Cabrera, the oldest brother to seven sisters. When he was four years old, his family moved to Valencia, Spain, but after two years, they returned to Cuba, where he attended the local public school. In 1867, he enrolled at the Professional School for Painting and Sculpting in Havana, intending upon a career as a professional artist. In 1869, at the age of 13, he began writing political commentary for the newspaper "El Diablo Cojuelo." That same year, he published "Abdala" a patriotic drama in verse form, in the book "La Patria Libre," as well as his most famous sonnet "10 de Octubre." In March 1869, Cuban authorities shut down the school due to rising Cuban patriotism, and making him more resentful of Spanish rule in Cuba. He also developed an intense dislike of slavery, which was still practiced in Cuba. In October 1869, he was arrested on a charge of treason, and was sentenced to six years in prison, despite being only 16 years old. He spent his prison time on the Isla de Pinos, a small penal colony offshore from Cuba, and eventually, was exiled to Spain. In Spain, he studied law and wrote articles criticising Spanish rule in Cuba, and there he graduated with a bachelor of arts, while obtaining his license to practice law. From there, he traveled to France, and in 1877, returned to Cuba where he found employment as a professor of history and literature in Guatemala City. In 1880, he traveled to New York City, where he organized the Cuban exile community to support revolution and Cuban independence. He looked mostly to the US for monetary support of the revolution, and strongly opposed US intervention in Cuba, believing that US intervention would result in continual American interference in Cuban affairs at its best, and American annexation of Cuba at its worst. On March 25, 1895, he published the Manifesto of Montecristi, proclaiming Cuban independence, an end to all legal racial distinctions, and friendship to Spain. On April 11, 1895, he landed in Cuba with a force of rebel exiles, to begin a real war for independence, and was killed by Spanish troops at the Battle of Dos Rios on May 19, 1895. Three years later, the United States invaded Cuba to bring about its independence from Spain.