Tina Modotti & Julio Antonio Mella
The revolutionary love that fell on a Mexico City street
The Italian photographer of post-revolutionary Mexico and the young exiled Cuban student leader: they loved for a few months within Frida and Diego's circle, until Mella was shot dead while walking arm in arm with her in the open street.
01Why it matters
It is the emblematic love of the 1920s Latin American left: it joins the art of Modotti, a founder of modern Mexican photography, with the martyrdom of Mella, a founding hero of Cuban communism. A political crime made their story eternal.
02The conflict
Gerardo Machado's dictatorship in Cuba, which pursued Mella into exile. On the night of 10 January 1929 he was murdered at her side; the press tried to blame Modotti, who was arrested and then expelled from Mexico.
03The iconic moment
Mella collapsing mortally wounded on the sidewalk and Modotti holding him as he spoke her name; the gunshots of Machado's hired killer on Abraham González street.
04What survived
Modotti's photographs, now in major museums, and her iconic portrait of Mella; the image of the young martyr in the iconography of the Cuban and Latin American left.
05What to watch, read & listen
06Where to travel
07Frequently asked questions
Why is the story of Tina Modotti & Julio Antonio Mella famous?
It is the emblematic love of the 1920s Latin American left: it joins the art of Modotti, a founder of modern Mexican photography, with the martyrdom of Mella, a founding hero of Cuban communism. A political crime made their story eternal.
How does the story of Tina Modotti & Julio Antonio Mella end?
Mella collapsing mortally wounded on the sidewalk and Modotti holding him as he spoke her name; the gunshots of Machado's hired killer on Abraham González street. Modotti's photographs, now in major museums, and her iconic portrait of Mella; the image of the young martyr in the iconography of the Cuban and Latin American left.
Where can you visit the story of Tina Modotti & Julio Antonio Mella?
You can visit Abraham González Street, in Ciudad de México. Where Mella was murdered walking beside her.
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