Elisa Godínez Gómez de Batista
Elisa Godínez Gómez de Batista (c. 1905 – June 19, 1993) was the First Lady of Cuba from 1940 to 1944. She was the first wife of Cuban President, Dictator Fulgencio Batista.
Elisa Godínez y Gómez de Batista | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First Lady of Cuba | |
| In office 10 October 1940 – 10 October 1944 | |
| Preceded by | Leonor Montes de Bru |
| Succeeded by | Polita Grau |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1905 Vereda Nueva, La Habana Province, Cuba |
| Died | June 19, 1993 Miami, Florida, USA |
| Spouse(s) |
Máximo Rodríguez (m. 19??; d. 1962) |
| Children | 3 |
Biography
Godínez was born on December 2, 1904[1][2] in the village of Vereda Nueva in the Havana province (Ciudad de La Habana Province).[1] Like Batista, she was of humble origin and was born in a small farmhouse, as one of nine children born to Salustiano Godínez y Córdoba and Concepción Gómez y Acosta.[1]
Godinez married Batista in 1933.[2][3][4] They had a son, Rubén, and two daughters, Mirta[5] and Elisa Aleida.[4] They divorced in 1945.[2][4][3]
Godínez married her second husband, Máximo Rodríguez, a former member of the Cuban Congress, and they immigrated to the United States in 1959, settling in Miami, Florida.[2][3] Rodríguez died in 1962, and Godínez resided in Miami until her death there on June 19, 1993,[3][4] at age 88.[2]
One of her grandsons (the son of Elisa Batista) is Raoul G. Cantero III, a Justice of the Florida Supreme Court from 2002 to 2008.
References
- Argote-Freyre, Frank (21 April 2006). Fulgencio Batista The Making of a Dictator. Rutgers University Press. p. 29. ISBN 9780813541006. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
- "Elisa Godinez Rodriguez". Asbury Park Press. Asbury Park, New Jersey. June 22, 1993. p. 28. Retrieved February 18, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Elisa Rodriguez, Batista's wife, dies". The Central New Jersey Home News. New Brunswick, New Jersey. June 22, 1993. p. 2. Retrieved February 18, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Cuba's former first lady dies". The Californian. Salinas, California. June 22, 1993. p. 16. Retrieved February 18, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- Wysocki, Ronald A. (August 23, 1959). "Batista's Daughter in Hub Thinks Dictator Betrayed. Cuba's Ex-Strongman Good to Own Family". The Boston Globe. p. 55. Retrieved February 18, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
Further reading
- Fulgencio Batista: From Revolutionary to Strongman by Frank Argote-Freyre; Rutgers University Press (2006); ISBN 978-0-8135-3702-3