José Silvestre White Lafitte (17 January 1836 in Matanzas, Cuba - 12–15 March 1918, Paris, France), also known as Joseph, was a Cuban violinist and composer. His father was Spanish and his mother was Afro-Cuban.

He studied at the Paris Conservatory between the years 1855 and 1871 and was highly praised by Rossini. From 1877 to 1889 he was director of the Imperial Conservatory in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after which he returned to Paris to spend the rest of his days. The famous 1737 "Swansong" Stradivari was his instrument.

His most famous work is La bella cubana, a habanera

Habanera (music)

The habanera is a genre of Cuban popular dance music of the 19th century. It is a creolized form which developed from the contradanza. It has a characteristic "Habanera rhythm", and is performed with sung lyrics...

. White also wrote a virtuosic violin concerto, recorded several decades ago on the Columbia label.