Francisco Vicente Aguilera

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Aguilera depicted on the original artist/progress proof designed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for Cuban silver certificates (1936).

Francisco Vicente Aguilera was a Cuban patriot born in Bayamo, Cuba on June 23, 1821.^[1] He had ten children with his wife Ana Manuela Maria Dolores Sebastiana Kindelan y Sanchez. He studied at the University of Havana receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws.^[2]

Aguilera had inherited a fortune from his father, and in 1867 he was the richest landowner in the eastern region of Cuba, owning extensive properties, sugar refineries, livestock, and slaves. He never bought any of the slaves that were regularly brought from the African coast and offered for sale. He only used the slaves he had inherited from his father. This required him to hire many free workers to plant and harvest the sugarcane and work the farms. He was mayor of Bayamo, and he was a freemason and the head of the Masonic lodge in Bayamo.^{[citation needed][3]}

He traveled to many countries, including the U.S., France, England, and Italy. On his travels he came into contact with governments that had chiefs of state who were not monarchs, leading him to embrace the progressive ideas to which he was exposed. He became an idealist who was always preoccupied with improving the conditions of his countrymen.^{[citation needed]}