María Dolores Ortiz Díaz

María Dolores Ortíz is a very popular person in Cuba for her participation for decades in the Cuban TV program Escriba y Lea but also for being a great communicator, with a very distinctive personality... I would say that her correct oral expression and the smile that accompanies her, conveys satisfaction, harmony... She has been an tireless promoter of reading.

Her family played a decisive role in her education. Her father was a lawyer and her mother, when single, was a teacher. She completed her studies from primary school through high school at the "Los amigos" school in Holguín.

She moved to Havana in 1953 like so many young people in that era, in search of a University degree.

At the University she quickly became involved with the leadership of the University Student Federation (FEU); she was elected class delegate, she was deeply immersed in both the political life and cultural life of the University of those years.

When the University closed in 1956, she had to return to Holguín, and she was fortunate that an uncle, who was an employee of a Methodist school — the Candler College, managed to get her a position as a teacher in High School and Commerce. There she taught Spanish Language, Literature, History, Geography and Composition in both programs.

She completed her university degree after 1959, graduating in Philosophy and Letters.

She continues as a teacher at Candler. She completes her final year of studies as a working student, carrying both in parallel. She works in basic secondary education, during the "Year of Literacy," joining the Conrado Benítez literacy brigades with her students. Upon returning she begins at the José Martí Technological Institute, in Rancho Boyeros, as head of the Spanish department. About a year and a half later, Doctor Roberto Fernández Retamar, who at that time was the head of the Linguistics Department of the old Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, calls on her to work as a Grammar professor at the School of Letters. Starting in March 1963 she begins as a professor at the University.

This erudite woman is a tireless reader, and has served as:

Teacher at Candler College.
Teacher in Basic Secondary Education.
Head of Department at the José Martí Technological Institute.
Founder, Spanish teacher, Head of Department, Head of International Relations and professor of Marxism-Leninism at the "Enrique José Varona" Higher Pedagogical Institute.
Professor at the University of Havana.
Visiting Professor at the Moscow Higher Pedagogical Institute.
Thesis advisor for master's and doctoral degrees in Pedagogical Sciences.
Member of Permanent Tribunals of Linguistics and Literature.

She has taught postgraduate courses related to:
Spanish Grammar and Composition.
Comprehensive Practice of the Spanish Language.
Methodology for Teaching Spanish Verb Tenses, among others.

Research
She has conducted research on:
Reading comprehension processes in ISP students.
Independent work and the study of Grammar.
Analysis of postgraduate advancement of teaching staff in Higher Education centers, among others.

Publications
Her scientific output includes books, pamphlets, prologues and articles on the subjects that throughout her long career as a teacher and researcher, she has pursued. Multiple national and international publishers and journals have been honored with the works of this tireless scholar. She has published, among others:
Higher Education in Cuba (1984)
By virtue of one hundred roads (2002)
Testimonies from the Collection Works and Notes of Camila Henríquez Ureña (volume III, 2004).

Events
She has presented the results of her research and contributions at national and international events. She has delivered keynote lectures in Cuba and abroad on the pedagogical thought of José Martí, Bolívar and the literacy processes in Cuba.

Escriba y Lea Program
Doctor Ortíz, together with the late doctors Humberto Galis-Menéndez and Gustavo Du-Bouchet. Founders of the program

"Escriba y Lea", an emblematic program that from its very name establishes before the viewer a provocation to frequent books; an incitement to expand and deepen knowledge that invariably is acquired during the rounds of questions that lead to the identification of each topic. Its founders were doctors Dubouchet, Galis-Menéndez and Doctor Ortíz. And as moderator Cepero Brito. It airs for the first time in the first days of December 1969.

From this television program Doctor María Dolores has managed to win the affection and admiration of the people of Cuba, who have found in her an inexhaustible source of wisdom, values and positive feelings.

Awards and Recognition
Upon receiving in December 2003 the special teaching category of Professor of Merit.

Among the decorations and distinctions received for her educational work, the following stand out:
Medal "250th Anniversary of the University of Havana"
Medal "José Tey"
Distinction "Rafael María de Mendive"
Commemorative Medal "Of Literacy"
Order Carlos J. Finlay
Medals of Underground Combatant
40th Anniversary of the FAR
Distinction "For Cuban Education"
Honorary Member of the Association of Educators of Cuba
XV Anniversary of the Arab Union of Cuba
Recognition "40th Anniversary of the Enrique José Varona Higher Pedagogical Institute"
"Teacher of Generations"
Heroine of Labor of the Republic of Cuba in 2004
Professor of Merit of the Enrique José Varona Higher Pedagogical Institute 2003
National Prize in Pedagogy - 2007
Distinction The Utility of Virtue, awarded by the Cultural Society José Martí to personalities, groups and institutions that exemplify Martian ideals.
Distinction Tropical Gypsy (2012), awarded by the Provincial Directorate of Culture of Havana.
Replica of the Machete Mambí of Generalissimo Máximo Gómez (2017), awarded by the Revolutionary Armed Forces.
Distinction for Cultural Merit. 2018, awarded by the National Academy of Song Mariana de Gonitch and the Russian Embassy in Cuba.
National Television Prize 2020.