HR 9073

1	House Resolution
2	A resolution designating March 26, 2008, as "Spanish
3	Language Journalism Day in honor of Justo de Lara" in the
4	State of Florida.
5
6	WHEREAS, Jose de Armas y Cardenas, who wrote under the
7	pseudonym of Justo de Lara, was a distinguished journalist,
8	poet, and author in whose name the Justo de Lara Prize for
9	Spanish Journalistic Excellence, the most prestigious award of
10	its kind in Cuba, was awarded from 1934 until 1959 by El Encanto
11	Department Stores, and
12	WHEREAS, Jose de Armas y Cardenas was born on March 26,
13	1866, in Guanabacoa, Cuba, to Jose de Armas y Cespedes, the
14	editor of La Nacion newspaper, and Fermina de Cardenas, one of
15	the forerunners of the Cuban Feminism movement, who founded and
16	became editor of the Pink Pages newspaper, and
17	WHEREAS, although educated as an attorney, Jose de Armas y
18	Cardenas chose to work with his father on La Nacion, where he
19	began his illustrious journalistic career, and
20	WHEREAS, Jose de Armas y Cardenas' fluency in Spanish,
21	Italian, French, and English and his propensity for reading and
22	love of literature fueled his own desire to write, and
23	WHEREAS, Jose de Armas y Cardenas was a prolific author and
24	noted as one of the most distinguished Cervantes scholars of his
25	era, and
26	WHEREAS, as a journalist, Jose de Armas y Cardenas founded
27	and directed La Avispa magazine in Havana and in New York,
28	founded and directed the El Peregrino magazine in Madrid, Spain,
29	and served as a correspondent for The Sun and the New York
30	Herald newspapers, and
31	WHEREAS, Jose de Armas y Cardenas worked during the
32	Spanish-American War as a special envoy for The Sun in 1898,
33	serving as an official translator between Cuban General Calixto
34	Garcia and Lt. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, and in 1908 he worked
35	as a special envoy for the New York Herald in Haiti, helping the
36	troops overcome the language barrier, and
37	WHEREAS, Jose de Armas y Cardenas received numerous honors
38	and awards, including being decorated with the Order of the
39	Caballero Gran Cruz de Isabel la Catolica by the Spanish
40	Government and being awarded the Commemorative Medal of the
41	Spanish-American War by the United States Government, and
42	WHEREAS, Jose de Armas y Cardenas was the only person of
43	Spanish-speaking origin named by the Government of England in
44	1916 to be a member of the commission responsible for the
45	tricentennial celebration of William Shakespeare, one of the
46	authors he admired, many of whose sonnets he had translated into
47	Spanish, and
48	WHEREAS, Jose de Armas y Cardenas was a member of the
49	Hispanic Society of America, the Real Academy of the Spanish
50	Language, and the Academy for Cuban History, and
51	WHEREAS, Jose de Armas y Cardenas, known as "Justo de
52	Lara," died in 1919 in Havana, Cuba, but continued to serve
53	posthumously as an example to all who strove to attain
54	journalistic and literary acclaim, and in whose name the award
55	for Spanish Journalistic Excellence was given in Cuba from 1934
56	to 1959, NOW, THEREFORE,
57
58	Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
59	Florida:
60
61	That March 26, 2008, is designated as "Spanish Language
62	Journalism Day in honor of Justo de Lara," in recognition of the
63	excellence in journalism that Jose de Armas y Cardenas achieved
64	during his life and his love of literature in Spanish and other
65	languages, of the excellence in journalism that the award in his
66	honor continued to recognize after his death, and of the hope
67	for such continued excellence today and in the future.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.