Moraima Secada Ramos

She was born in a house on San Miguel Street between Unión and Maceo in the city of Santa Clara. Her parents were Micaela Ramos and Juan Secada. From this marriage, Moraima was the fifth child and twin sister with the named María Caridad.

Known as La Mora, she was a Cuban singer. She sang romantic music and created a very special style of interpretation within the Cuban song movement called feeling.

In August 1940, at ten years of age, Moraima, along with her family, moved to the City of La Habana and shortly thereafter appeared on the radio program La Corte Suprema del Arte, on the defunct CMQ station on Monte and Prado, where she won one of the first prizes singing the pasodoble "Valencia," by Spanish composer José Padilla.

She began her artistic career in the 1950s. She was part of the first female orchestra in America, Las Anacaonas.

In 1952, the excellent pianist and chorus director Aida Diestro organized her famous vocal quartet, and Moraima was one of the chosen ones to be part of it along with the excellent singers Elena Burke and the sisters Omara and Haydée Portuondo. Together with the unforgettable Aida Diestro, she remained for long and fruitful eight years. From her, La Mora learned, above all, to have complete mastery of her voice, her intonation and its direction within harmony, and the proper use of rubato in rhythm. She became known and trained with the works of such important Cuban composers as: Eliseo Grenet, René Touzet, Orlando de la Rosa, Felo Bergaza, Ernesto Lecuona, Armando Oréfiche, and Adolfo Guzmán.

In 1960, Moraima Secada separated from Las D' Aida and for a time as a solo artist was accompanied by the group Los Bravo and as a member of the quartet Los Meme. Shortly after, she resumed her role as a solo artist, reaping an impressive chain of successes and performing songs such as "Alivio," by Julio Cobo; "Perdóname conciencia," by Piloto and Vera; "Cuidado," by Nacho González; "Depende de ti" and "Se llama tú," by Chany Chelacy; "Me encontrarás," by Tania Castellanos, among other works.

On the nights of May 26 and 27, 1972, La Mora offered her first recital of 20 songs at the Teatro Amadeo Roldán. Her second recital was the following year, but this time, she not only performed works by Cuban composers but also from the rest of Latin America. In these two recitals, Moraima, with her peculiar voice and dramatic and sometimes pathetic style very contrary to her cheerful and joking personality, conquered all those attending the theater.

In 1976, her husband, composer Chany Chelacy, died in the aerial sabotage of Barbados.

Recalling her time as a member of Las D' Aida and without prejudice to their conditions as solo artists, the trio of Elena, Omara, and Moraima unite in October 1979 and travel to Mexico City invited by Mexican producer Jorge Saldaña to perform on the popular television program Nostalgia, broadcast on channel 13, remembering them in their last performances in 1957 in that nation.

Moraima, Elena, and Omara occasionally continued singing together on some television programs. In 1983 they sang "Amigas," by Alberto Vera and participated in the tribute to this composer, organized by the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba. They also performed at the Amelia Peláez Art Gallery, in Lenin Park. Her voice was recorded on several small records and two long-playing albums for the Areíto label where her latest hits appear, including the song "Me niego," by Tania Castellanos, and the boleros "Depende"

She died from a liver disease in the city of La Habana. She was the aunt of Latin singer-songwriter Jon Secada.