Marta Fernandez Miranda de Batista
| Marta Fernández Miranda de Batista | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First Lady of Cuba | |
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In office March 10, 1952 – January 1, 1959 |
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| Preceded by | María Dolores "Mary" Tarrero-Serrano |
| Succeeded by | Ana Durán de Alliegro |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 11, 1923 Cuba |
| Died | October 2, 2006 (aged 82) Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Nationality | Cuban |
| Spouse(s) | Fulgencio Batista |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Marta Fernández Miranda de Batista (November 11, 1923 – October 2, 2006) was First Lady of Cuba from 1952 until 1959. She was the second wife of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista, who was overthrown by Fidel Castro in the 1959 Cuban Revolution, which forced the couple to flee permanently into exile.
Fulgencio Batista had already been Cuban President once, from 1940 to 1944. Following his divorce from his first wife in October 1945, he married Marta Fernández Miranda on November 28th,1945. The couple moved to the United States during the 1940s after Batista's choice for his successor lost the presidential election in 1944. They had originally wanted to live in Palm Beach, Florida, but were shunned by the Palm Beach community. They rented a car and began driving north on U.S. Route 1 along the Florida coast. After arriving in Daytona Beach at the end of the day, they liked the reception they received there. They hired a real estate agent the next day and purchased a large riverfront house, where they lived on and off while continuing to influence Cuban politics.
Batista ran for and won a seat in the Cuban Senate in absentia in 1948. On March 10, 1952, Batista staged his second coup and once again became president of Cuba. This made Marta Fernández de Batista the new First Lady of the country.
Marta Fernández de Batista became an important matron of the Cuban arts as First Lady. She convinced her husband to build the National Gallery, which is now known as the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana (National Museum of Fine Arts of Havana). The couple started acquiring colonial era Cuban and modern paintings for the Gallery.
Fulgencio and Marta, their children and close friends fled Cuba in three planes on January 1, 1959, to escape Fidel Castro's forces. Critics have accused them of taking as much as 700 million U.S. dollars in fine art and cash with them as they fled into exile.
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