Leante, César (1928–)

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Leante, César (1928–)

César Leante (b. 1 July 1928), Cuban novelist and essayist. Leante was born in Matanzas and spent part of his childhood in Mexico. From 1944 to 1950 he was a member of the Socialist Youth Movement and later the Popular Socialist Party. In 1954 he began writing radio scripts and continued until 1959, the year he joined the staff of the newspaper Revolución. In 1961 he became an editor for the news agency Prensa Latina. He also taught theater at the National School for Instructors in the Arts until 1963, when he was named cultural attaché at the Cuban embassy in Paris. Leante went on to represent his country officially in international activities and to occupy prestigious posts at the Ministry of Foreign Relations and at the Cuban Union of Writers and Artists (UNEAC), which recognized his novel Padres e hijos with an honorable mention in 1965. He translated into Spanish the works of Simone de Beauvoir and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Leante served as literary adviser to the National Council on Culture and enjoyed favorable treatment from the Cuban regime until opting not to return to Cuba while on an official trip to Europe. Since then he has published in Spain, his adopted home, and elsewhere in the Americas. One of his best-known works is the 1973 novel Muelle de caballería. Among his other works are Tres historias (1977), Calembour (1988), and Fidel Castro (1991). His novels have been translated into several languages.

See alsoLiterature: Spanish America .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Madrid, Lelia M. "Calembour: Las traiciones de la univoi-cidad: Entrevista con César Leante." Inti 32-33 (Fall—Spring 1990–1991): 181-188.

Madrid, Lelia M. "Entrevista con César Leante: Lugar y fecha: Editorial Pliegos, Madrid, 13/1/90." Hispania USA 74:4 (Dec. 1991), 950-953.

Prado Oropreza, Renato. "Historia y literatura en Cabrera Infante, César Leante, y Cintio Vitier." Texto Crítico 9 (Jan. 1983): 65-91.

                                          Roberto Valero