Revista Cubana de Medicina Militar (Oct 2021)
Francesco Federico Falco, the Italian doctor who fought for the independence of Cuba
Abstract
The fight for Cuban independence had numerous supporters in Europe, but the most notable contribution of sacrifice and blood was that offered by Italy. Among the Italians who supported freedom for Cuba was Dr. Francesco Federico Falco, a medical graduate from the University of Rome and specialized in surgery. As secretary of the Italian Committee for the Freedom of Cuba, he carried out intense propaganda work of solidarity for the independence cause of Cubans. The objective of this work is to evoke the revolutionary attitude of the Italian doctor who participated in the war of 1895, in favor of the Cuban cause. Dr. Falco joined the Liberation Army in 1898, to serve as a doctor in the military health corps. He was noted for his bravery as a fighter and reached the rank of Commander. When the Republic was established, the Cuban government appointed him to diplomatic positions in European countries and finally in Italy, where he began diplomatic relations between the two nations. He stood out as an intellectual, with a fruitful literary work in which he demonstrated his commitment to Cuba and contributed to spreading its history. The participation of Cuban doctors along with Italian colleagues in the confrontation with the current pandemic caused by the new coronavirus, reminds the Italian doctor FrancescoFederico Falco, who joined the Liberation Army as a doctor, to fight together with the Cubans, against colonialism Spanish in the late nineteenth century.
