Onelio Jorge Cardoso

Who was Onelio Jorge Cardoso?

Onelio Jorge Cardoso was a Cuban editor, screenwriter, short fiction writer and party functionary.

Cardoso was born in Calabazar de Sagua, Cuba. He was unable to complete his high school studies due to his family's economic problems, employing himself in different trades to support his family. One of these was as a traveling salesman, a job that allowed him to get to know different places and people within Cuba that would serve as models for the setting and characters of several of his stories. He started writing at a young age, winning a short story writing contest in 1936. However, it was not until 1945 when he became known by winning the "Alfonso Hernández Catá" contest with a story entitled "Coalmen". In 1945, he published in Mexico his first book, Taita, you tell me how. In 1948, he settled in Havana, working as a news editor in 1010 kHz AM radio station and writing screenplays as well for commercial radio stations. He, furthermore, worked as editor in chief for Cine-Revista newsreel. He was awarded the National Award of Peace for his story "Scrap Iron". He published his second book in 1958, The storyteller.