The author of the Cuban National Anthem, Pedro Figueredo - known as Perucho Figueredo - died 150 years ago, shot by Spanish troops, but with his forehead held high, singing his patriotic composition.

The beginning of the struggles for the independence of the Homeland, on October 10, 1868, motivated the request for a hymn that would be like The Marseillaise of the Cuban revolutionaries, according to several historians.

Figueredo received the commission for a musical composition and lyrics and, at first, it was known as La bayamesa to the theme that became the National Anthem.

A manuscript of the piece in his handwriting is still preserved and the date on which it was first sung, October 20, was officially declared Cuban Culture Day.

Figueredo was born in the city of Bayamo, formerly the province of Oriente and now Granma. He studied high school in Law and finished his studies at the University of Barcelona, Spain.

In Cuba, he considered that he could not practice with true decorum due to political corruption; so he resigned from the legal profession and dedicated himself to singing, the study of music, and literature.

For denouncing the incapacity of a mayor, he endured imprisonment and had his assets confiscated, then he had to move to Havana where he founded the Correo de la Tarde newspaper.

A superior impulse returned him to his native Bayamo, where the main preparations were made for an uprising that culminated with the action of October 10, 1868, which was considered the beginning of the War for the Independence of Cuba.

A few months later, Figueredo was appointed Undersecretary of War and Major General of the Liberation Army.

The enemy captured him sick and defenseless, a military court condemned him to be shot and the sentence was executed on August 17, 1870.

From that moment it is said that he faced death as a worthy revolutionary, singing the notes of the hymn whose final sentence: To die for the Homeland is to live.