Berta Arocena de Martínez Márquez (1899–1956) was a Cuban journalist,
suffragist
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...
and feminist active during the 1920s and 1930s.
Biography
Berta Arocena was born in 1899, in
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. she dabbled in writing from an early age, writing in journals and newspapers. She married the journalist Guillermo Martínez Márquez 1926, with whom she had two children, Bertha (born 1934) and William (born 1941).
Along with Renée Méndez Capote, Arocena cofounded the
Lyceum
The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Basic science and some introduction to ...
, on 1 December 1928, one of the most intellectual and cultural feminist organizations of its time, serving as its president. She also joined Carmen Castellanos, Matilde Martínez Márquez,
Carmelina Guanche
''Carmelina'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book by Joseph Stein and Alan Jay Lerner, lyrics by Lerner, and music by Burton Lane.
Based on the 1968 film ''Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell'', it focuses on an Italy, Italian woman who has raised ...
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...
. She became a lobbyist in Cuba's parliament and organized various feminist events in that country. She also participated in the founding of
Club Femenino de Cuba {{Expand Swedish, Club Femenino de Cuba, date=January 2022
The Club Femenino de Cuba was a women's organization in Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Ju ...
and the National Union of Women, along with several other writers such as
Ofelia Rodríguez Acosta
Ofelia de la Concepción Rodríguez Acosta García (9 February 1902, in Pinar del Río – 28 June 1975, in Havana or Mexico) was a Cuban writer, journalist, radical feminist, and activist. She wrote feminist chronicles, stories, essays, novels, ...