Teodoro Ramos Blanco was born in Puentes Grandes, Havana, on December 19, 1902, and died in this city on October 15, 1972. He completed his early studies at the Havana School of Arts and Crafts, later enrolling at the San Alejandro Academy, where he graduated with excellent results in 1928. He worked as a police officer for a few years, but his artistic vocation took precedence, a passion he would never abandon.

In 1928, he was awarded the prize in the Mariana Grajales Monument Competition, which provided him with a small sum of money to travel and explore other artistic spheres. In Europe, he settled for a time in Italy, where he opened a studio. Later, he would travel to France and Spain, thus culminating his stay in the Old World, which proved very fruitful in terms of establishing his own principles, as he took the essence of the models of the great masters, but he also sought to transcend the established norms with authentic creations.

In 1936, he returned to Havana and joined the San Alejandro Academy again, where he obtained a teaching position there by competitive examination (which, starting in 1942, became a full professor). During these years, he also visited Mexico and the United States, where he took sculpture classes, specifically at Columbia University in New York.

His artistic career included numerous exhibitions, including: Seville, 1930; New York, 1933; Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City, 1937; New York University Museum, 1939; Exhibition of Contemporary Cuban Art at the National Capitol of Cuba, 1941; and Havana City Hall, 1942, among others that contributed to consolidating his prestige as a sculptor and artist, beyond the technical skill that each of his pieces demonstrated.

He was also the recipient of important national and international awards, including those for the following pieces: Monument to the Invading Soldier, in Mantua, 1935; for an effigy of Martí in Güines; and for the Mausoleum to Antonio Guiteras, in Havana, 1936 (shortly after the patriot’s death). Most of his works reflect the image of key figures of the nation. In this sense, in addition to those already mentioned, he sculpted others dedicated to Antonio Maceo, Juan Gualberto Gómez, Rafael María de Labra, and the Panteón del Cacahual, where the remains of Antonio Maceo and Panchito Gómez Toro rest, to name just a few of the works created by this prolific Cuban sculptor.