Wednesday, 05 October 2011 14:11
Alberto Manuel Francisco Yarini and Ponce de León
More than a century after his death, he is still one of Havana´s most famous, a figure of controversy, admiration, research and contempt, especially among elders.
But, who was Alberto Manuel Francisco Yarini and Ponce de León?
Born into a wealthy family, he represented Havana´s upper class. He attended the best schools in the city and the United States, but did not continue in the family´s tradition of health-related careers.
He was not significant in stature (barely 5-feet 6-inches), nor was fearsomely bulky (weighed about 60 kgs.), however, for his florid eloquence, elegance, brave spirit who knew no fear and his exalted skills and abilities as a lover, at the beginning of the twentieth century, Yarini became Havana´s most popular and revered pimp.
So great was the respect and admiration, that the honorable writer Alejo Carpentier said that when Alberto Yarini walked down Obispo Street with a beautiful (and expensive) steed, "everyone, man and woman, went to their doors to watch him pass by." And our extremely famous composer Sindo Garary wrote a song for him titled "Nada teams, la vida te sonríe" (Fear not, life smiles at you.)
He wooed (obviously with great success) women who were married to very wealthy and powerful men. It is said that he belonged to secret society Abakuá´, which was detached and very generous with money —which is to say they squandered it— given to their "pupils," and although he had enemies, especially among foreign pimps whom also proliferated in Havana, he never had to watch his back.
A dazzling French courtesan, known around as "La Petite Berthe," caused Yarini´s death in the San Isidro neighborhood; the king of pimps in Havana fell in a cowardly ambush on 21 November, 1910.
Some ten thousand people passed before his body during the wake —there were only about two million people living on the entire island— and also, there was a mass audience at the funeral. His remains were laid to rest at the family pantheon at the Columbus Cemetery, and more than one century later, anonymous hands still bring gifts of Santeria and flower bouquets.
Los Dioses Rotos (The Broken Gods), a recent production by Ernesto Daranas, was inspired by this Cuban, portrayed in a Cuban social drama. Here we leave you with a trailer.
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