Eugenio Rayneri Piedra

Eugenio Rayneri Piedra is the architect of numerous buildings in Havana, including the entrance to the Colón Cemetery; and, noteworthy as the designer of the Cuban National Capitol Building, or El Capitolio, completed in 1929 during the administration of President Gerardo Machado. The first graduate of the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture (Indiana, USA) in 1904, he returned to Havana to enter into private practice with his father. He won an international competition for Cuba’s Presidential Palace, and was founder and first president of the Cuban Society of Architects. He was also professor at the University of Havana, father of pianist Laura Rayneri Piedra, and grandfather of ballet master Fernando Alonso (dancer).