Manuel María Coronado
Manuel María Coronado 'Alvarado' was a Cuban revolutionary soldier, lawyer, politician, and owner of one of the most popular newspapers in Cuba, La Discusión. Coronado also participated in joint venture to bring the first ever aircraft to the island of Cuba. He was the Vice President of the Cuban Senate at the time of his death.
Life
In November 1879, Coronado joined the Little War in Las Villas as an Alférez. In early 1895, at the behest of Major Generals Máximo Gómez and Antonio Maceo, he acquired the newspaper La Discusión to support the independence movement.However, when Valeriano Weyler re-took possession of the island during the Cuban War of Independence, he shut down production of the newspaper.
Following the suspension of La Discusión in 1896, Coronado relocated to the United States. He later returned to Cuba as part of the Cuban Liberation Army, aboard the third expedition of the steamship Sommers N. Smith, which landed on September 15, 1897, at the mouth of the Arimao River in Cienfuegos, Las Villas, under Lieutenant Colonel Fernando Méndez's command.
After spending ten days in the Cienfuegos Brigade, he was transferred to the Trinidad Brigade.
On December 31, 1897, he was appointed auditor of the General Command of the Liberation Army. He was promoted to Captain on September 15, 1897; to Commandant on January 27, 1898; to Lieutenant colonel on March 19, 1898; and to Colonel on April 8, 1898.
After the war, Coronado resumed publishing La Discusión, elevating it to become one of the most popular newspapers in Cuba. He was a founding member of the Conservative Party and served as a senator for Oriente province.
From 1906 to 1906, Coronado served as a member of the Advisory Law Commission of Cuba, which rewrote many of the laws of Cuba to disentangle the country from its former Spanish Imperial legal framework.
In 1910, Coronado, Ricardo Dolz Arango and Mario Díaz Irizar, purchased a French replica Blériot XI and displayed it in the portals of the Lombillo Palace, in the Plaza de la Catedral in Havana.