Ruth Fernández (born Ruth Noemí Fernández Cortada; 23 May 1919 – 9 January 2012) was a Puerto Rican contralto and a member of the Puerto Rican Senate. According to the "Comisiones Nacionales para la Celebración del Quinto Centenario" (National Commission for the Celebration of the Fifth Centennial), she is said to be one of three artists whose contributions have helped unite Latin America. The other two artists named were Libertad Lamarque from Argentina and Pedro Vargas from Mexico.
Early years
Fernández was born Ruth Noemí Fernández Cortada in the Bélgica community of Barrio Cuarto in Ponce, Puerto Rico to Santiago Fernández and Rosa María Cortada. Fernández's mother died when she was six years old and she was raised along with her four other siblings by her grandmother. She received her primary and secondary education in her hometown. As a child she learned to play the piano and was very active in her school and community's activities. In high school she organized her own musical group. She became a professional singer at the age of 14 when she would go to the local radio stations, WPRP and WPAB, and sing for 50 cents a day, in 1935. Fernandez was heard by Mingo, a bandleader of a locally popular band and was hired into his band in 1940. She then performed in nightclubs, dances and casinos.
Musical career
Fernández started to gain popularity and in 1941, at age 22, she was signed by Columbia Records with whom she recorded her first hit song, "Cuando Vuelvas" (When you return) a theme written by Myrta Silva. Her first appearance in New York City was in The Latin Theater of New York. There the Master of Ceremonies, Hector del Villar, introduced her as "El Alma de Puerto Rico hecha cancion" ("The Soul of Puerto Rico Turned Song"). That moniker was to stay with her forever.
During World War II and the Korean War, she traveled overseas to entertain the soldiers of Hispanic descent. the first Latina singer of romantic music to sing in the Scandinavian countries (with some notable success in Norway), and the first Latina to record with a North American band. Fernández had no children; because of her public acknowledgement of her nephews and nieces, and because of her philanthropic work with children, many Puerto Ricans nicknamed her "Titi Ruth" (Auntie Ruth), a term popularized by comedian José Miguel Agrelot. Flutist Néstor Torres is one of her nephews.
In 1985, she was given a tribute in recognition of the 50 years which she has dedicated to the artistic world with the participation of Mario Moreno "Cantinflas", Libertad Lamarque, Pedro Vargas, Olga Guillot and many others. She was also named by 500th Centennial commission as one of the three Latin American artists who have contributed the most in uniting Latin America.
Political life
She was elected into the Senate of Puerto Rico, representing the district of Ponce as a member of the Popular Democratic Party. Her loyalty to the party had been long standing: when Rafael Hernández Colón first ran for governor of Puerto Rico in 1972, Fernández sang a campaign jingle for his campaign.
As a legislator, Fernández sought many reforms and better working conditions for the artistic class. She also looked after the needs of Puerto Ricans living in the United States; a tenement in The Bronx, New York, is named after her, Ruth Fernández Apartments. After her senatorial term was over, she served as a cultural adviser to Hernández Colón. In 1990, she was selected by Imagen (Image) magazine as one of the ten most powerful women in Puerto Rico. The government of Puerto Rico declared three days of national mourning for her death.