• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 09 / 13 / 2011

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2011.09.12 - 08:12:46 / radiorebelde.icrt.cu / Havana, Cuba.-  Havana is a picturesque city settled by unique people that in some way fill it with magic: my childhood´s memories have been enough proof of it. If I closed my eyes I could still get to see the honorable Gentleman from Paris, as everyone used to call him, as well as the crafty marquis or the witty “china” traveling in the local number 68 long-distance bus route.

Although I have not direct memories of the Marquis herself, my mother tells me that she almost always used to walk in the Central park. However, what strongly called the attention from passers-by was not her figure; it was her naive and self-confident way of dressing.

Her name was Isabel Veitía, a mulatto-short woman and very vivacious that used to wear a hat with a veil made of tulle, she used to walk and fun herself as if she wanted to show her alleged aristocratic origin. Besides, she also used to wear an old shawl on her shoulders and a couple of incredible and golden plastic shoes and an old purse.  

To photograph the Marquis was all an adventure and people had to pay for it, Isabel used to make clear to anyone interested about taking her a photo her alleged aristocratic origin so that to receive a payment due to her noble birth. She was never satisfied with mere coins, as people say; Isabel affirmed that her noble condition only allowed her to receive bills. That phrase that used to be gently and naively pronounced by her was enough to make people to give her some money gladly.

There were other occasions in which she made people to laugh, thus gaining their fondness with her respectful jokes.

No one knows how, when or the reason life turned Isabel insane let alone her tendency to see herself as an allegedly aristocratic character. That still remains as a mystery. However, the truth is that her “lineage” made her popular and to be always remembered as the Marquis Isabel Veitía. By Elsa María Cortés and Translated by: Juan Carlos Caballero Puig