1950–1951 Photographic Archive of Colegio De La Salle During the “Tercer Centenario de San Juan Bautista de La Salle,” and c.1953 Photo of a Later Lasallian Celebration, All at Gran Stadium Cervecería Tropical with Cristal Beer Advertising

On offer is a terrific photographic collection consisting of nine photographs connected to the Año Lasaliano, taken at the Gran Stadium Cervecería Tropical, all featuring Cristal beer marketing, plus an additional photograph from a later Lasallian celebration.

• Five photographs (approx. 10 × 8 in.) show hundreds of alumni and students of the Colegio de la Salle during the Año Lasaliano, a jubilee year proclaimed worldwide by the Institute of the De La Salle Brothers to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the birth of St. John Baptist de La Salle, Patron Saint of Schools. This centenary was observed globally from May 24, 1950, through November 21, 1951, by Lasallian institutions across the world.
• Two additional photographs of the same event, measuring approx. 14 × 11 in., bear the blind stamp “Funcasta / Fernández.”
• A further photograph (approx. 10 × 8 in.) shows another celebratory event organized by the Cuban Colegio de la Salle a few years later. 
• A final image, also approx. 10 × 8 in., depicts the crowd in the stadium—likely connected to one of these events, though uncertain whether to the Año Lasaliano or the later celebration.

Context and Significance

These seven key images provide visual insight into how Cuban Lasallian institutions participated in the global commemoration “Celebrando el Tercer Centenario de San Juan Bautista de La Salle, 1651–1951.” It was exceedingly difficult to locate published Cuban references to these events. One reference was located in the appendix of the April 29, 1951 issue of Diario de la Marina (pp. 70–71).

The two large photographs bearing the Funcasta / Fernández blind stamp almost certainly document the work of Generoso Funcasta Boizán (1908–1965), one of Cuba’s most accomplished photojournalists. The name Fernández likely refers to Carlos Fernández, Funcasta’s colleague at Carteles magazine; both men were active there in 1950–1951. The younger photographer Ernesto Fernández (b. 1939) later credited both as formative mentors.

The event took place at the Gran Stadium Cervecería Tropical during the Año Lasaliano. Advertising visible on the stadium boards promotes Cristal’s “Mantín” product, accompanied by the slogan “La fórmula de la salud.”

The later photograph of the subsequent Lasallian celebration, also taken at the Gran Stadium, shows similar ceremonies but with updated iconography. The field sign reads “Escuelas Cristianas” (the emblem of the Hermanos de las Escuelas Cristianas / De La Salle Brothers), and the Cristal advertising differs. Based on the slogan “Malta Cristal: la fórmula de la juventud,” this image can be dated between 1953 and 1956Malta Cristal branding under that tagline first appeared in Cuban media in 1953 and persisted until roughly 1956.

Images documenting special events held by Cuban Colegio De La Salle schools are exceptionally scarce. While international Lasallian institutions widely celebrated the 1950–1951 tercentenary, Cuban visual records are seldom encountered. Furthermore, photographs bearing the “Funcasta / Fernández” embossing are rare survivals of mid-century Cuban press photography.

All prints are original photographic prints or very early reprints from a single Cuban academic source. Condition ranges from Good+ to Fair, with minor bends, folds, and occasional stains but no large tears. All images are intact and have been carefully preserved.

BIO NOTES:

The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools—commonly known as the De La Salle Brothers—was founded by St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (1651–1719) in Reims, France, during the 1680s. Canonized in 1900, De La Salle revolutionized Catholic education by introducing trained lay teachers, vernacular instruction, graded classrooms, and accessibility for the working class. His model became the foundation for one of the world’s largest Catholic teaching orders (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1910/2020; Lasallian.info, n.d.).

By the early twentieth century, the Lasallian educational mission had spread globally, with key institutions established in Europe, the Americas, and Asia. In the Philippines, for example, De La Salle College (now De La Salle University) was founded in 1911 by nine Brothers from Europe (De La Salle University, n.d.).

In Cuba, multiple Colegio De La Salle campuses operated, though documentation is fragmented. According to former student Manuel Chávez (Fotos de la Habana group, 2024), locations included Marianao, Vedado, Miramar, Palatino, Nuevo Vedado, and Santa María del Rosario; another alumnus recalls a business school in Civic Plaza. The Vedado campus—founded in Old Havana in 1905 and relocated in 1921—had by 1957 more than 5,000 students (including 1,000 scholarship pupils). Its facilities featured science laboratories and a Natural History Museum, and its textbooks were adopted in other Cuban schools (Dimas, 2023).

Following the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the Castro government nationalized all private and religious schools. On May 25, 1961, 110 De La Salle Brothers—including 84 Cubans—were expelled from Cuba (Curious Cuba, 2021). Their institutions were seized, leaving only the former school buildings as remnants of their presence (Cibercuba, 2019; Catholic News Archive, 1961).

Sources

• Catholic Encyclopedia. (2020). Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. New Advent. (Orig. 1910). https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02189a.htm
• Catholic News Archive. (1961). Cuba nationalizes Catholic schools. https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org
• Chávez, M. & others. (2024). The La Salle Academy (today La Arruñada), Fotos del Habana (Facebook group).
• Cibercuba. (2019). Lo que fue el Colegio de La Salle en La Habana. https://www.cibercuba.com
• Curious Cuba. (2021, Sept 25). This is what the historic La Salle College in Havana looks like now (+ Photos). Cuba Cute.
• Dimas. (2023, Apr 28). Religious schools: the need for their recovery in Cuba. El Blog de Dimas.
• Pita, E. (2020). Experiences of a sixth grader in 1949–1950 Havana, Cuba. SMU World Languages Research Cluster.
• De La Salle University. (n.d.). History of De La Salle University.
• Diario de la Marina. (1951, Apr 29). Fundador del Instituto de las Escuelas Cristianas, Patrono de los Maestros.
• LaSalle Santander, A.A. (2019, Jun 5). The Celebrations of the Tercentenary of the Birth of Saint John Baptist de La Salle.
• Lasallian.info. (n.d.). St. John Baptist de La Salle: Important dates.
• Lasallian Educational Institutions. (2023). Wikipedia.
• The Royal Legacy. (n.d.). Néstor Machado. The Immaculata–La Salle Alumni Magazine.