SOURCE: "Man of Culture and Ideals," "A Plutarchian Portrayer," and "Interpreter of the Social Panorama," in José Martí: Epic Chronicler of the United States in the Eighties, The University of North Carolina Press, 1953, pp. 14-17, 31-45, 46-55.

Martí's primary Cuban biographer, González tackles various aspects of Martí's character and work in the three chapters that follow. In the first, González offers his overview of "the multiplicity of mental and spiritual powers in Martí." The second catalogues Martí's essays on "great men" of North America—a series that brought these figures before many Latin American readers for the first time. The last treats Martí's views on U.S. culture, politics, and economics as they appeared in the series North American Scenes.

Man of Culture and Ideals

A distinguished humanist of Columbia University wrote some time ago that the life of Martí "was one...