Miguel Ángel Barnet Lanza (born January 28, 1940) is a Cuban writer, novelist and ethnographer. Known as an expert on Afro-Cuban culture, he studied sociology at the University of Havana, under Fernando Ortiz, the pioneer of Cuban anthropology. Barnet is best known for his Biografia de un cimarrón (1966), the life of Esteban Montejo, a former slave who was 103 when they met. He had escaped and lived as a marron before slavery was abolished in Cuba. Barnet's style of testimonial in this work became a standard for ethnography in Latin America. One of his later testimonial books, Gallego, was adapted as a 1988 film by the same name. Early life Miguel Angel Barnet Lanza was born on January 28, 1940, in Havana, Cuba, to a prominent Cuban family of Catalan descent. Though he had his early education in the United States, when his family lived in Atlanta, Georgia, for a time, Barnet maintained a high degree of interest in and awareness of Cuban culture. In his early years he was a regular contributor of poetry and other writings to such Cuban publications as Lunes de Revolución and Hoy. This literary background has informed Barnet's approach and works of anthropological writing. In college, Barnet studied anthropology and sociology at the University of Havana. Against the backdrop of the Cuban Revolution, he developed a strong relationship with Cuban anthropologist Fernando Ortíz. The professor introduced Barnet to an ethnographic model centered on indigenous religion, creole language, and the oral tradition. In rural areas of the island, religious practices influenced by African and Taino traditions, such as santería, were practiced within the syncretic framework of Catholicism. Ortiz’s view of ethnographic research focusing primarily on indigenous culture was influenced by the Cuban communist political ideology of the time, rejecting European modes of learning. It emphasized study of the socially and economically marginalized class. Later career Since 1995 Barnet has led the Fernando Ortiz Foundation in Havana, dedicated to the work of his professor and mentor. In 2009 Barnet was re-elected to a UNESCO committee on the study of Afro-Cuban culture. He had been a member of the executive committee of UNESCO for nine years. Biografía de un cimarrón In 1963, Barnet was intrigued by two newspaper articles reporting on Cubans who were more than a century old. One article described an ex-slave who was a santeria. The other reported on Esteban Montejo, also a