This letter from Matilde Batista dated April 12, 2002. We apologize that we were unable to change any part of the offending line as it is in a graphic designed when this version of the site was launched in 1996.
Dear M. Griffin,
Please note that the sentence in your website which states that Anaïs Nin was born of a Catalan father and a Danish mother is incorrect.
Anais’ father, Joaquin Nin Castellanos, was CUBAN;
the Nins were Catalans, and the Castellanos were Cubans who came from the Canary Islands.
Anais’ mother Rosa Culmell Varigaud, was CUBAN. (Rosa’s father, Thorvald Culmell Shistensen, was Danish; Rosa’s mother, Anaïs Variagaud Bodin , was born in New Orleans, USA)
Thorvald Culmell and Anaïs Varigaud lived in Cuba and their seven children were born there” Rosa, Edelmira, Anaïs, Antolina, Pedro, Enrique and Thorvald (Am not sure of their birth order.) Only the girls had offspring.
Although Anaïs and Joaquin Nin Culmell were born in Paris and Berlin, respectively, Anaïs’ brother Thorvald, was born in Cuba in 1905. When Anaïs’ mother took her children to live in New York, they were often visited by their Cuban cousins.
Sincerely,
Matilde Batista