SACO, Jose Antonio (sah'-ko), Cuban publicist, born in Bayamo, Cuba, in May, 1797; died in Madrid, Spain, in 1879. He finished his education in Havana, where, in 1821, he obtained the professorship of philosophy in the Seminary of San Carlos. From 1824 till 1826 he traveled in the United States, and in 1828 he returned to New York, where he devoted himself to literary labors.

He translated into Spanish, from the Latin, the celebrated work of Heineccius on Roman law, and his translation passed through several editions in Spain. In 1832 he went to Havana, and held the editorship of the "Revista Bimestre Cubana" until 1834, when he was banished from the island on account of his liberal ideas and anti-slavery principles.

In 1836 he was elected to represent the eastern part of Cuba in the Spanish cortes, but he did not take his seat, as the Madrid government deprived the colonies of representation. He published in Madrid "Paralelo entre Cuba y algunas colonias inglesas" (1838).

He made afterward an extensive tour in the European continent, and in 1840 fixed his residence in Paris, where he published " Supresión del trafico de esclavos en Cuba" (1845), which brought upon him the wrath of the slave-holders, and diminished his chances of being allowed to return to Cuba.

In 1848 he published in Paris his "Ideas sobre la incorporacion de Cuba á los E. U.," favoring the annexation of Cuba to the United States, which was immediately translated into English and French, and assailed by the American press. "La situacion politica de Cuba y su remedio" was published in 1851, and "La cuestión Cubana" in 1853.

He was elected by Santiago de Cuba in 1866 as one of the delegates sent to Madrid to advocate political reforms for the island, and in 1878 was again elected by the same city to the Spanish cortes. Saco was a voluminous writer. During the last years of his life he began the publication of his great work "Historia de la esclavitud desde los tiempos más remotos" (Paris, 1876 et seq.), one of the most exhaustive works on this subject, of which several volumes were published before his death. It has been translated into various European languages. Other works of Saco are "Historia de la esclavitud entre los Indios," and numerous articles and essays on a diversity of subjects, which have been collected under the title of "Coleccion de papeles varios" (Havana, 1882).

Edited Appleton's Encyclopedia, by John Looby Copyright © 2001 StanKlos.com^TM