José María López Lledín
José María López Lledín (30 December 1899 – 11 July 1985) known as El caballero de París (i.e., The gentleman from Paris) was a well-known street person in Havana, Cuba in the 1950s.
Contents
First years
López Lledín was born in the town of Vilaseca, in the municipality of Fonsagrada, province of Lugo, Spain at 11:00 a.m. on 30 December 1899. His father was Manuel López Rodríguez, also born in Vilaseca, and his mother was Josefa Lledín Méndez, born in Negueira in the same municipality and province. They were owners of a small villa with vineyards where they produced wine and spirits. He started primary school at age seven in Negueira and completed half of his secondary education. López Lledín arrived in Habana on 10 December 1913 at the age of twelve aboard the German steamship "Chemnitz". There he stayed with his uncle (known as AG, a brother-in-law of his brother Benigno) and his sister Inocencia, who had previously arrived in Cuba in 1910. López Lledín worked at a grocery store on Genios Street, owned by another Galician, until he left his uncle's home. He worked as a clerk at a flower shop, a tailor, a book store and a lawyer's office. He studied and refined his mannerisms to get better employment. He worked as a restaurant waiter in the hotels Inglaterra, Telégrafo, Sevilla, Manhattan, Royal Palm, Salón A and Saratoga. According to his cousin Julio, he could even speak some English.
Becoming El caballero de París
López Lledín lost his mind and became "El Caballero de París" when he was arrested in late 1920 and sent to the prison at "El Castillo del Príncipe" in Havana, Cuba. The reasons are unknown but he always claimed in all interviews his innocence. El Caballero de París was always vague about the origins of his nickname. Once he said to his biographer that he got his name from a French novel. Another time he claimed that they started calling him "El Caballero" at "La Acera del Louvre" (the "sidewalk of the Louvre"), an area of the Paseo del Prado (Havana, Cuba) where three hotels are located, including the "Inglaterra" where he had worked. Perhaps in his mind he equated the "Acera del Louvre" with Paris. He said Havana was "very Parisienne" and that he was "a Musketeer, a Corsair and a Knight (i.e., Caballero) of Lagardiérè". He stated that "Paris is well known in Havana" and that "many Cubans had become famous in Paris, such as Marta and Rosalía Abreu of Santa Clara".
Others say that at one time he worked at the "París" (Havana, Cuba) restaurant and, when he returned saying that he was a "Caballero" and "King" the clients started referring to him as "El Caballero de París". Others say it was due to the French style of dress which he sported in his ramblings. Still others relate that it was given to him by the weekly humor/satirical publication "Zig Zag".
El Caballero's sister Mercedes stated that he got his nickname due to a girlfriend from Paris, who was killed during her trip to join him in Havana.
The street wanderer
El Caballero de París wandered the streets of Havana for many years and this is how he got his measure of fame. El Caballero never traveled outside of Havana after he became mentally ill. Several times he was arrested and once, or maybe twice, he was bathed and his hair was shaved completely, but the reaction of the public when the event was reported by the press, resulted in his immediate release. In 1941, he was briefly interned in the Mental Hospital at Mazorra, but was released immediately by Presidential order. One well-known anecdote happened on television:
In 1953, El Caballero de París, together with several other well-known street persons, including "Bigote de Gato" and "La Marquesa", were invited by Gaspar Pumarejo, Cuba's TV pioneer, magnate and variety show host, to serve as a panel of judges in his live TV program "Escuela de Televisión" (TV School). At the end of the program, Pumarejo decided to reward the panel by giving $20 to each one. When he tried to give the money to El Caballero, the latter responded "Neither my feelings nor my high position allow me to accept this money. I give it to Bigote de Gato for a party that he will give in his establishment." Pumarejo, taken aback, paused a moment and then asked "Why don't we give it to the National Orphanage?" to which El Caballero replied "Well, lets donate it...but what are the rich and the government doing who are supposed to take care of the Orphanage? This is an act of charity and it is not right that the children of the orphanage should receive alms."
In 1949, he declared for the "Bohemia" magazine
"I am the king of the world because the world is always at my feet."
Last years and death
On 7 December 1977 he was interned in Mazorra's psychiatric hospital because of his deteriorating physical condition. During his stay at Mazorra he was given physical, laboratory and psychological tests and also suffered a hip fracture as a result of a fall. He was diagnosed by his psychiatrist, Dr. Calzadilla, as suffering from paraphrenia, sometimes considered a form of schizophrenia. He did not suffer from hallucinations.
He died in Mazorra at 1:45 a.m. on July 11, 1985 at the age of 86. He was initially buried in the cemetery of Santiago de Las Vegas in Havana. His remains were later exhumed by Eusebio Leal, the Historian of the City of La Havana, and transferred to the convent of St. Francis (now a concert hall and museum), his current resting place.
In the arts
- A bronze statue by the sculptor José Villa Soberón was made and placed in the sidewalk in front of the St. Francis convent.
- Another statue, made by Héctor Martínez Calá, was placed in the Havana Scale Model Museum, in Miramar.
- A number of paintings by Gilberto Marino, Luis Roberto Miqueli Prez
- A song, "Memoria y Testamento" (i.e., "Memory and Legacy") by Cuban singer Liuba María Hevia mentions El Caballero de Paris
- A danzón, "El Caballero de Paris", by composer Antonio María Romeu and interpreted by Barbarito Diez
- The corner of 36th Avenue and 8th Street in Miami was officially designated on March 9, 2004 as "Avenida El Caballero de París"
- A song, "El ilustrado caballero de Paris", by singer and composer Gerardo Alfonso.
References
- Dr. Luis Cazadilla Fierro, "Yo soy el Caballero de París", book.
