Rosita Fornés

Rosita Fornés was born in New York, USA, on February 11, 1923. She was taken to Cuba by her Catalonian-born parents when she was 2. Her true name is Rosalia Palet Bonavia. Fornes became her artistic name at the age of fifteen at the request of her step-father, who helped raise her from the age of 2. Fornes first won critical acclaim as a singer after winning the best prize at a widely-known Cuban talent contest in 1938 (La Corte Suprema del Arte -The Supreme Court of the Arts-). From this moment on she became Cuba's most prolific, admired and maligned performer.