Arnaldo tamayo mendez biography meaning
Arnaldo tamayo mendez biography meaning
Arnaldo tamayo mendez quotes...
Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez
Cuban cosmonaut (born 1942)
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Tamayo and the second or maternal family name is Méndez.
Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez (born 29 January 1942) is a Cubanmilitary officer, legislator, and former cosmonaut and the first person of African heritage in space.[1][2] In 1980, as a member of the crew of Soyuz 38, he became the first Cuban citizen, the first Latin American, the first person of African descent, and the first person from a country in the Western Hemisphere other than the United States to travel into Earth orbit.
Early life and military service
Tamayo was born on 29 January 1942, in Baracoa, Guantánamo province, into a family of Afro-Cuban descent. Orphaned as an infant, he was adopted at age 1 by Rafael Tamayo and Esperanza Méndez.[3] He began working at age 13 as a shoeshine and vegetable vendor and later worked as a carpenter's assistant.[4][