He was born in AlquÃzar, Havana, in July 3rd, 1880 and died in March 20th, 1968. Son of Néstor Leonelo Carbonell. Just born he was taken to Tampa, United States of America. There he settled the newspaper: El Expedicionario (1896).
He fought in Cuban battlefields, being promoted to Lieutenant. During the earliest years of the Republic he was member of the Liberal Party. He ranked among the 1906 rebels in arms. In 1907 he was appointed Secretary of General Jurisprudence of Schools of Cuba. He graduated as Doctor in Public Law in the University of Havana (1914). In 1919 he settled the Nationalist Party with Manuel Márquez Sterling. Founder member and President of the National Academy orf Arts and Letters (1910) and director of its annals. He was also member of the Academy of Language, of the Academy of History, of the Ateneo de La Habana as well as of other Latin American institutions. He attended as delegate to several international lectures as offcial representative.
Collaborator in La Lucha, La Discusión, Heraldo de Cuba, La Nación, El FÃgaro, Azul y Rojo and Letras; he compiled in 18 volumes, an anthology of Cuban prose and poetry entitled: Evolución de la cultura cubana. He wrote under the pseudonyms: Tampa, Cacarajicara, Gerardo de Lavernier and René de Roban.