Dorticós Torrado, Osvaldo (1919–1983)
Dorticós Torrado, Osvaldo (1919–1983)
Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado (b. 1919; d. 23 June 1983), president of Cuba from 1959 to 1976. Born in Cienfuegos, Dorticós Torrado graduated from the University of Havana Law School in 1941. He served as dean of the Cienfuegos Bar Association and subsequently as vice president of the Cuban Bar Association. After his release from a short imprisonment for anti-Batista activities, Dorticós joined Fidel Castro's Twenty-sixth of July Movement and soon became its Cienfuegos coordinator.
When President Manuel Urrutia resigned on 17 July 1959, Dorticós ascended to the presidency, becoming at forty the youngest president in the nation's history. Real power remained in Castro's hands, but Dorticós nevertheless remained loyal, receiving additional appointments, including minister of the economy in 1976. He held positions in the National Assembly of the People's Power and Council of State, was vice president of the Council of Ministers, and was a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party. Dorticós committed suicide in 1983.
See alsoCuba: The Republic (1898–1959); Castro Ruz, Fidel.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jaime Suchlicki, Historical Dictionary of Cuba (1988) and Cuba: From Columbus to Castro, 3d ed. (1990).
Additional Bibliography
Sweig, Julie. Inside the Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro and the Urban Underground. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002.
Jaime Suchlicki