Ada Elba Pérez Rodríguez

She was born in Jarahueca, province of Sancti Spíritus. From childhood she loved music and the plastic arts. Ada grew up in an environment of great freedom for play, in contact with nature, with many friends and much encouragement for creation and imagination. Her parents, although humble and with only a sixth-grade education, had—and have—a special sensitivity and the intelligence to greatly encourage her intellectual and artistic development, especially in Ada who from a very young age sang, recited, and performed. In almost all the school and cultural events organized in the area, Ada appeared with a little toy guitar that she used to accompany herself.

According to testimony from her sister Olga: "The anecdotes I could tell are countless, born from her artistic 'genius' and also from her character, because she was not a contemplative, dreamy child, but tremendously vital, very, very mischievous and cheerful, brave and loyal. And so she was also as an adolescent and adult. She never liked to waste time, and that characteristic combined with her intelligence and a prodigious memory, capable of learning entire chapters of a book with just one reading if it caught her attention, caused situations like this: when she began first grade in elementary school at five years old (preschool did not yet exist), Ada already knew how to read and write, and mastered mathematical 'tables' wonderfully, so she felt she was out of place sitting in that classroom, and unable to leave, she opted to begin singing at the top of her voice 'La Guantanamera', and there was no way to make her stop. The teacher, desperate, had to turn to the sixth-grade teacher who was a close family friend and he decided to take her to his classroom and have her do higher-level school assignments for several days, and... miraculous remedy, Ada fell silent and returned to discipline."

She directed her vocation at the Provincial School of Art "Olga Alonso" in Santa Clara, and later at the National School of Art.

She developed her art fundamentally in Isle of Youth and Havana. On the Island she worked as a teacher at the Elementary Art School, collaborated in the newspapers Mangle Rojo and Victoria, served as president of the Cultural Circle "Alejo Carpentier", was part of the Municipal Choir, and was a member of a musical group.

In 1982, she joined the "Hermanos Saíz" Brigade. Her literary work achieved numerous awards in Cuba and abroad, including: a "Recognition" for her outstanding participation in the Artistic and Literary Movement 1986, and "Diploma of Honor" for her contribution to the Movement of Amateur Artists 1988. That same year of 1988 she was invited by the Ateneo de Caracas and the Maracaibo Art Museum to exhibit her work. In 1991 she participated in the "Tribute to Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz" event in Mexico, and also received the "Abril" music award.

Ada ventured into several literary genres: poetry, short story, novel, testimony, and literary criticism. Among the themes addressed in her works, the praise of the land that the farmer works stands out, internationalism, optimism, and love for her people of Jarahueca.

Her creative sensitivity made her a figure aligned with the artistic concerns of poets, painters, musical performers, narrators, and a people who respect and love her.

She said about poetry: "Poetry is the cannon of tenderness. In its corners stars and everyday acts nest. But the poet must be one, first of all, in life itself. I believe a poet to be anyone who recognizes the privilege of living and thus feels the debt of paying for the air they breathe. The poet is one tool and for me it is the way to enter the human being through other doors, or at least to knock on them. …Poetry violates, transgresses, strips bare, and lawbreakers are not received with applause. What matters is that truth travels on those wings."

About her themes expressed in verse, Ada explains to us in few words how she manages to leave in letters the vibrations of her interior, those "matters of the world" as she says that move her and she pours into her poetry. A poetry in which the human being is above all else.

"All the matters of the world that can move me are themes of my poetry. I write about everything that moves me. I try to use clear language, that enters through the doors through which poetry should always enter, which are the doors of the heart, of feeling. I always defend within my poetry the human being and their best values."

Ada had the magic of fascinating children, not with a magic wand but with a guitar, singing her children's songs such as Señor Arcoiris, El cangrejo Alejo, Ana la campana, Adivina quién será, Amanecer de la flor, Estela, El vendedor de asombros, El despertar, etc.

She was only 30 years old when death surprised her in July of 1992 in Havana. Ada was an extraordinary woman, an exceptional creator. Unfortunately, at only 30 years old, in the prime of life and in the prime of creation, in a traffic accident she died when a completely drunk individual hit her.

On February 18, 1993 (Art Instructor Day) she was awarded posthumously the "Raúl Gómez García" medal and the "Abril" award.

Since 1997, in the month of September, the Bienal Identidad is celebrated in Havana, Isle of Youth, and Jarahueca. In the framework of these activities, the winners in Literature and Plastic Arts of the annual "Ada Elba Pérez" Contests are awarded.