Supercentenarian Profile

Rosa Julia Peña Hechavarría

Born:

1914-10-23

Santa María, Las Tunas Province,

Cuba

Current Residence:

Las Tunas City, Las Tunas Province,

Cuba

✔ Age Certified by LongeviQuest

Rosa Julia Peña Hechavarría is a Cuban supercenenarian whose age has been validated by LongeviQuest.

BIOGRAPHY

Peña Hechavarría was born in Santa María region (now the municipality of Puerto Padre), Las Tunas province, Cuba, on 23 October 1914 to parents Feliberto Peña Jomarron and Elvira Hechavarría Agüero. She spent her childhood helping her parents and her eight siblings in the rural neighborhood where they lived, along with her aunts, uncles, and cousins. From a young age, she displayed a free and cheerful spirit: she disliked going to school and, on more than one occasion, would run away to bathe in the river or feed the farm animals, especially the chickens.

Her father, Feliberto Peña, worked in agriculture. In addition to working for others, he cultivated a small family plot where he planted corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, plantains, and other root crops. To supplement the family’s diet, he also hunted deer and fished for bonefish. Her mother, Elvira Hechavarría, took care of the household chores and the poultry, raising chickens and hens for eggs and meat. Music was an essential part of the family’s life. Several of her uncles were musicians wh played at local festivals.

In her teens, she used to sell chicken eggs for a local merchant. With the money she earned, she would buy a length of fabric from the same man, and her older sister would sew dresses for her. She would also buy buttons, needles, and thread, and proudly wear her new dress to the town dances. In one of those parties, she met her future husband, Rubén Ricardo Cartaya, who became her one true love.

In 1932, she suddenly fell ill, and her abdomen began to swell. Due to rumors, the townspeople thought she was pregnant with Rubén’s child, cruelly telling her, “You have a little Rubén,” which hurt her deeply since Rubén was only her boyfriend at that time, and there was no truth to the rumor. Her health deteriorated rapidly: she developed severe anemia and was diagnosed with a uterine fibroid requiring urgent surgery. Thanks to the intervention of political figures of the time, she was given a bed at the Central Chaparra Surgical Hospital, considered then one of the best-equipped in Eastern Cuba, and underwent successful surgery. When she recovered, she publicly showed her strength to all those who had slandered her, demonstrating her unwavering character, dignity, and courage—qualities that always defined her: a strong, proud woman, master of her own destiny.

In 1933, Rosa Julia and her boyfriend Rubén decided to elope during one of the town’s festivals. Rubén already owned a small house in the village of Santa María, it was there where they would begin their new life together. Rosa Julia, always hardworking, took charge of a shop, a busy business that sold everything needed for rural life: from clothing and household items to tools like hammers and machetes.

Rosa Julia Peña married Rubén Ricardo in November 1950, and they had two children—Roberto (born 1943) and Griselda (born 1949). From this marriage, the family grew up to five grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

She currently lives in Las Tunas City, Las Tunas Province, Cuba.