4.6 Melchor de las Casas. First Cuban actor of the 17th-century theater

Melchor de las Casas is the first actor born in the Cuban archipelago in the 17th century. He was a native of Havana, Cuba.

References have been found about our first Creole actor, in which we have learned that he was married to Melchora Rafaela, the daughter of a surgeon from Granada; and that he had a daughter with her.

He worked as an actor between 1673 and 1674 in the Seville company of Matías de Castro and Magdalena López. He later went on to work in the theater company under the direction of the well-known actress Inés Gallo.

Melchor de las Casas died in 1678, the victim of a shipwreck off the Huelva coast, while traveling with Inés Gallo. His wife and daughter died with him.

Melchor de las Casas is one of the most important figures who has survived, over time, in the history of Cuban theater. He is considered the first professional Cuban actor.

The painter Jorge Arche Silva (1905 – 1956), his contributions to the Cuban Plastic Arts

The plastic work of Enrique Caravia y Montenegro (1905 – 1992)

Wilfredo Oscar de la Concepción Lam y Castillo (1902 – 1982), the significance of his plastic work

The sculptor Teodoro Ramos Blanco (1902 – 1972), his work

The plastic work of Gumersindo Barea y García (1901 – ?)

The painter Carlos Enríquez Gómez (1900 – 1957), an essential exponent of Cuban visual arts

The work of the sculptor Juan José Sicre y Vélez (1898 – ?)

The work of the painter and architect Augusto García Menocal y Córdova (1899 – ?)