Preparando la noche / Preparing the night
Sitges, Barcelona (Spain).
SortidazZ: El corazón del Garraf. [22/11/2009]
Better seen in Fluidr.
Se ve mejor en Fluidr.
"Mirada al futuro" de Lorenzo Quinn (2009).
ENGLISH
Don Facundo Bacardi Massó (Catalan: Facund Bacardí i Massó) (1814 – May 9, 1886) was a Spanish–Cuban businessman. In 1862 he founded the eponymonous Bacardi rum distillery.
Bacardi was born in Sitges (province of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain), son of a family of bricklayers. He followed his older brothers to Cuba in 1830, finding employment in their general store in Santiago. Over time, he saved up his own capital, and in 1844 he established his own mercantile shop.
Just three months earlier he had married Amalia Moreau, a woman of independent means who additionally had a wealthy godmother named Clara Astie. Both would prove to be sources of capital for Facundo's business ventures. Facundo and Amalia went on to have a number of children, many of whom would play important parts in building the rum business for which the family became famous: Emilio was born in 1844, Juan in 1846, Facundo Jr in 1848, Maria in 1851, Jose in 1857, and Amalia in 1861.
An earthquake followed by a cholera epidemic devastated Santiago in 1852, claiming Juan and Maria and sending Facundo and his family to Catalonia for a number of months to escape. Upon his return, Facundo found his store looted and business conditions in Santiago poor in the wake of the disaster and amid a global slump in sugar, the mainstain of the economy. Facundo's business wasn't able to recover, and it was bankrupt in 1855.
Soon after, Facundo began to experiment with the process of distilling rum. Previously, rum was a crude, low quality beverage. Facundo, with the help of a French Cuban named Jose Leon Boutellier, a tenant of Clara Astie, began to experiment with methods of distillation. Exactly what techniques they developed are debated, but some combination of quicker-fermenting cognac yeast, charcol filtration, white oak barrel aging, and painful trial-and-error based adjustments of distillation and fermentation resulted in much more refined, tamer drink which they successfully sold through Facundo's brother's general store.
In 1862 the partners acquired a distillery and constituted the firm "Bacardi, Bouteller, and Company", using capital supplied by Facundo's younger brother Jose. Having started in retailing, Bacardi understood how to sell things, and realized that his innovative drink would benefit from good branding. He began to sign each shipment of rum with a bold "Bacardi M" (for Bacardi Massó); in addition, he used the now iconic bat as the brand's image.
More info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facundo_Bacardi
---------------------------------
CASTELLANO
Facundo Bacardí Massó (Sitges, Barcelona, 1814 — Cuba, 9 de mayo de 1886), empresario hispano–cubano, era hijo de un comerciante de vinos de Tarragona (Cataluña, España), que en 1830 marchó con su familia a Cuba. Tras establecerse en Santiago de Cuba, Facundo prosperó en el mismo negocio que su padre. En 1843 se casó con Amalia Victoria Moreau.
Desde 1852 comenzó a experimentar con el proceso de destilación del ron para obtener una bebida más suave. Finalmente dio con una fórmula satisfactoria (inédita hasta entonces en el mercado) y tras adquirir una antigua destilería en Santiago, el 4 de febrero de 1862 fundó la empresa Bacardí (cuyo símbolo fue desde entonces hasta hoy en día un murciélago) para fabricar y vender el nuevo producto. Sus hijos José, Emilio y Facundo colaboraron activamente en este negocio familiar. Los dos últimos apoyaron públicamente la insurrección independentista de 1868, lo que ocasionó algunos problemas a la empresa con las autoridades.
La marca Bacardí obtuvo en 1876 la Medalla de Oro de la Exposición Universal de Filadelfia (E.U.A.) y posteriormente otros prestigiosos reconocimientos en Europa, Estados Unidos y Cuba. Ese mismo año Facundo Bacardí se retiró del negocio, dejándolo en manos de sus hijos, que más tarde, en la década de los 90, se asociarían con su cuñado Enrique Schueg, gracias a cuyo aporte de capital la empresa se expandió, aumentando las exportaciones y abriendo nuevos mercados. El fundador de la compañía murió diez años después de su retiro. Su hijo Emilio tuvo contactos con José Martí en 1892 en Nueva York, luchó por la Independencia de Cuba, y llegó a ser el primer alcalde post-colonial de Santiago y senador electo de la República (1906).
Preparando la noche / Preparing the night
Sitges, Barcelona (Spain).
SortidazZ: El corazón del Garraf. [22/11/2009]
Better seen in Fluidr.
Se ve mejor en Fluidr.
"Mirada al futuro" de Lorenzo Quinn (2009).
ENGLISH
Don Facundo Bacardi Massó (Catalan: Facund Bacardí i Massó) (1814 – May 9, 1886) was a Spanish–Cuban businessman. In 1862 he founded the eponymonous Bacardi rum distillery.
Bacardi was born in Sitges (province of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain), son of a family of bricklayers. He followed his older brothers to Cuba in 1830, finding employment in their general store in Santiago. Over time, he saved up his own capital, and in 1844 he established his own mercantile shop.
Just three months earlier he had married Amalia Moreau, a woman of independent means who additionally had a wealthy godmother named Clara Astie. Both would prove to be sources of capital for Facundo's business ventures. Facundo and Amalia went on to have a number of children, many of whom would play important parts in building the rum business for which the family became famous: Emilio was born in 1844, Juan in 1846, Facundo Jr in 1848, Maria in 1851, Jose in 1857, and Amalia in 1861.
An earthquake followed by a cholera epidemic devastated Santiago in 1852, claiming Juan and Maria and sending Facundo and his family to Catalonia for a number of months to escape. Upon his return, Facundo found his store looted and business conditions in Santiago poor in the wake of the disaster and amid a global slump in sugar, the mainstain of the economy. Facundo's business wasn't able to recover, and it was bankrupt in 1855.
Soon after, Facundo began to experiment with the process of distilling rum. Previously, rum was a crude, low quality beverage. Facundo, with the help of a French Cuban named Jose Leon Boutellier, a tenant of Clara Astie, began to experiment with methods of distillation. Exactly what techniques they developed are debated, but some combination of quicker-fermenting cognac yeast, charcol filtration, white oak barrel aging, and painful trial-and-error based adjustments of distillation and fermentation resulted in much more refined, tamer drink which they successfully sold through Facundo's brother's general store.
In 1862 the partners acquired a distillery and constituted the firm "Bacardi, Bouteller, and Company", using capital supplied by Facundo's younger brother Jose. Having started in retailing, Bacardi understood how to sell things, and realized that his innovative drink would benefit from good branding. He began to sign each shipment of rum with a bold "Bacardi M" (for Bacardi Massó); in addition, he used the now iconic bat as the brand's image.
More info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facundo_Bacardi
---------------------------------
CASTELLANO
Facundo Bacardí Massó (Sitges, Barcelona, 1814 — Cuba, 9 de mayo de 1886), empresario hispano–cubano, era hijo de un comerciante de vinos de Tarragona (Cataluña, España), que en 1830 marchó con su familia a Cuba. Tras establecerse en Santiago de Cuba, Facundo prosperó en el mismo negocio que su padre. En 1843 se casó con Amalia Victoria Moreau.
Desde 1852 comenzó a experimentar con el proceso de destilación del ron para obtener una bebida más suave. Finalmente dio con una fórmula satisfactoria (inédita hasta entonces en el mercado) y tras adquirir una antigua destilería en Santiago, el 4 de febrero de 1862 fundó la empresa Bacardí (cuyo símbolo fue desde entonces hasta hoy en día un murciélago) para fabricar y vender el nuevo producto. Sus hijos José, Emilio y Facundo colaboraron activamente en este negocio familiar. Los dos últimos apoyaron públicamente la insurrección independentista de 1868, lo que ocasionó algunos problemas a la empresa con las autoridades.
La marca Bacardí obtuvo en 1876 la Medalla de Oro de la Exposición Universal de Filadelfia (E.U.A.) y posteriormente otros prestigiosos reconocimientos en Europa, Estados Unidos y Cuba. Ese mismo año Facundo Bacardí se retiró del negocio, dejándolo en manos de sus hijos, que más tarde, en la década de los 90, se asociarían con su cuñado Enrique Schueg, gracias a cuyo aporte de capital la empresa se expandió, aumentando las exportaciones y abriendo nuevos mercados. El fundador de la compañía murió diez años después de su retiro. Su hijo Emilio tuvo contactos con José Martí en 1892 en Nueva York, luchó por la Independencia de Cuba, y llegó a ser el primer alcalde post-colonial de Santiago y senador electo de la República (1906).