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Ramiro Casañas Collection, 1805-2006

 

Summary

Extent:
69 boxes
Language:
English Spanish; Castilian

Background

Scope and content:

The Ramiro Casanas Collection provides a look into the Casanas Family's longtime passion for collecting. The collection's primary focus is on pieces that document Cuban history during the nineteenth and twentieth century. It features Cuban artwork, handwritten poetry, cigar boxes, periodicals, and sports paraphernalia. Also included are artifacts from around the world, such as international banknotes, political ephemera, maps, and photographs.

Biographical / historical:

Ramiro O. Casanas was born in Cuba in 1929 to his mother Amelia, who died during his childhood from a heart attack at home before she could travel from Havana to New York, New York for a procedure concerning a pre-existing heart condition. Casanas remained in Cuba under the care of his father, along with his two brothers, Roberto and Luis. Casanas grew up playing baseball, and attempted to pursue a career in the sport, but was forced to reconsider when he developed a chronic illness. Instead, he dedicated himself to his studies, attending formal school to further his education and becoming devoted to the study of Cuba's history and its figures. He married his wife Lina, and became the General Manager of a Sulfuric Reclamation Plant, the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. They had a daughter named Linamelia, and lived happily in Cuba until The Cuban Revolution prompted them to escape to America in 1960, where they received immediate residency. The Casanas Family welcomed a son named Rami Jr before relocating to California. It was in California, with its access to public art galleries, museums, and libraries, that Casanas developed his passion for collecting. The family frequented antique shops, flea markets, and tag sales to begin the work of gathering artifacts of value, such as art, coins, and stamps. They would spend the next fifty years buying and selling in fairs and clubs, as well as in the Coral Gables gallery and bookstore he and Lina had opened back in Miami, Florida. For all the collecting the Casanas Family did, they felt it was equally important to give back, dedicating themselves to many philanthropic projects over the years. At the end of his life, Casanas shared his life's accumulation of artifacts among various universities. He spent his last years in the company of Linamelia, traveling and exploring.

Arrangement:

The Ramiro Casanas Collection is arranged by dominant subject of the featured boxes in each series. Some subjects may appear in other series; for example, Photographs will appear in Sports if the dominant subject of the photograph pertains to Sports. Oversized Materials feature Photographs, Business and Cigar Signs, Art, Maps, Documents, Genealogical Charts, and Cuban Election Ephemera.

Access and use

Location of this collection:
Florida International University
11200 SW 8th Street
Miami
FL
33199
USA