Isabel la Negra

Madam Isabel "la Negra" Luberza Oppenheimer
Isabel "la Negra" Luberza Oppenheimer, ca. 1950
Born	Isabel Luberza Oppenheimer (1901-07-23)23 July 1901 Ponce, Puerto Rico
Died	4 January 1974(1974-01-04) (aged 72) Barrio Maragüez, Ponce, Puerto Rico
Cause of death	Shooting
Resting place	Cementerio Civil de Ponce 18°00′49″N 66°37′57″W / 18.01352°N 66.63243°W / 18.01352; -66.63243
Occupation	Brothel owner
Years active	Mid 1930s - 1960s
Employer	Self-employed
Organization	Elizabeth's Dancing Club
Home town	Ponce, Puerto Rico
Net worth	$500,000 USD
Height	64" (5'4")
Weight	140 lb (64 kg)
Children	Manuel Morales (adopted)

Isabel Luberza Oppenheimer (23 July 1901 – 4 January 1974), better known as "Isabel la Negra", was a Puerto Rican brothel owner and madam in barrio Maragüez, Ponce, Puerto Rico. Her name and her brothel, Elizabeth's Dancing Club, became part of Puerto Rican folklore both during her life and posthumously.

Isabel Luberza Oppenheimer was born in the San Anton neighborhood of Ponce, Puerto Rico, on 23 July 1901.

Apart from her business as a madam, well documented in many Puerto Rican newspapers such as El Dia and El Vocero, not much is known about her life. One widely circulated version is that Isabel left home as a young teenager to live with a wealthy man, only to find out that he was married. She then dated, and married, a much older man, a wealthy American.

From the late 1930s to the mid-1960s, she owned and operated her bordello in the municipality of Ponce. At that time prostitution was tolerated. Her bordello was allegedly visited by politicians, businessmen, clergy members, etc. but this remains conjecture.

Dubbed by the public Isabel la Negra, she declared herself "Madame" of her brothel. Isabel had two brothels: one in Barrio San Anton and another one in Barrio Maraguez. While her brothel businesses made her quite wealthy, the Catholic Church did not accept her donations because of her past and the nature of her profession.

Isabel la Negra was shot dead on 4 January 1974, an innocent bystander of a drug-related homicide. which occurred in one of her establishments. She was 72 years old. She was buried at Cementerio Civil de Ponce.

Several of Puerto Rico's most important contemporary authors and filmmakers have been inspired by Isabel Luberza Oppenheimer's life and made works based on her experiences. In 1975, Rosario Ferré and Manuel Ramos Otero published two stories about Isabel la Negra in the literary journal Zona de carga y descarga. These stories were later reprinted in short-story collections by each author.