Abstract:
The article tells the story of Cornelio Souchay, a German immigrant who arrives in Havana in 1807, has a love affair with Ursula Lambert, a free Haitian mulatto and becomes the owner of an exemplary coffee plantation which he calls Angerona, goddess of silence. The text is based on reports, documents, letters from travelers, film and novels written by men and women who visited Angerona in different times. Contrary to the film “Roble de Olor” (2003) which celebrates the love of Cornelio and Ursula, the author is interested in the reconstruction of the immigrant’s life and plantation whose ruins were declared a national monument by the Cuban Historical Patrimony. Actually, the detailed description of several aspects of the farm, the land lord house and his relation with the slaves, has no other aim than to prove how the strict humanism of Cornelio and his rational calculation contributed for the greatest efficiency of the coffee plantation’s system of domination.
Keywords:
Cuba; German immigration; Coffee plantation; Slaves; Rationality