Jorge Agostini Villasana (5 February 1910 – 9 June 1955) was a Cuban military and government official, leading revolutionary, and athlete. Early life Jorge Felipe Agostini Villasana was born 5 February 1910 in Mayarí, Cuba. Early in his life, Agostini became active in military activities. In September 1926, at the age of sixteen, he entered the Mariel Naval School, where he would graduate in 1931 as an alférez de fragata (frigate lieutenant). He was then assigned to the gunboat Patria, and later to serve directly under the orders of the Chief of the Northern Naval District of Cuba. Agostini opposed Fulgencio Batista's coup in January 1934 and was therefore discharged from the Navy that February. He went into exile in the United States where he joined the military apparatus of the Organización Auténtica/"Authentic Organization" (OA) which was led by Emilio Laurent. He returned to Cuba following the political amnesty law of 1935, after which he became active in international sports on behalf of Cuba. Agostini participated in the 3rd Central American Sports Games where he won a silver medal in épée as well as a bronze medal in foil. However, as Batista's regime continued its repressive policies, Agostini again fled to the United States in 1936. While in New York he joined groups that plotted to overthrow Batista, however these efforts where ultimately stifled by internal divisions. Spanish Civil War Agostini left the United States for Spain in 1937 to fight in defense of the Spanish Republic against the rise of Francisco Franco's forces. In Spain he was appointed technical commander in artillery and assigned to the destroyer ship Ulloa. While aboard the Ulloa he participated in the sinking of the Baleares, the flagship of the Falangist navy. By 1938 Agostini was commanding a C-4 submarine and participated in several battles, as a result he would be wounded twice. In the battle of Tcherchell off the coast of Morocco he successfully oversaw the sinking of the cruiser Canarias. In a morale contribution during the war, the Cuban brigade had its own battle hymn that was titled "Combatientes de la libertad" ("Freedom fighters"); set to music by popular Cuban composer Julio Cuevas Díaz, with its lyrics rewritten by Agostini (then Secretary of the Contingent), to read "We are the volunteers, the freedom fighters / black and white, of all races / united, united more and more / for democracy and universal