Doctor María Dolores Ortiz, a prominent Cuban intellectual, passed away at 87 years old in Havana, according to the official website Cubadebate. She gained popularity among Cubans as a panelist on the television program “Write and Read.” Ortiz, the only woman on the panel of specialists, began appearing on the show in 1969 alongside doctors Gustavo Dubouchet and Humberto Galis-Menéndez, with Cepero Brito as the moderator. Over the years, additional panelists such as Enrique Sosa and Ángel Pérez Herrero joined the program.
In a heartfelt message, her colleague Félix Julio Alfonso López stated that Cuba has lost an intellectual who touched the hearts of her people with sympathy, modesty, and wisdom. He also highlighted the loss for the University of Havana and Higher Education, as Ortiz was an extraordinary teacher with exceptional sensitivity and talent. Her legacy will endure through her disciples. Holguin, Ortiz’s birthplace, mourns the loss of a favorite daughter who always celebrated her roots. “Write and Read” bids farewell to the last of its founders, the female soul of the show for half a century, to whom gratitude and appreciation will be eternally owed for her generosity and teaching.
María Dolores Ortiz held a doctorate in Philological Sciences and was a professor at the University of Havana. She was also a professor of merit at the Enrique José Varona Higher Pedagogical Institute and a National Labor Heroine of the Republic of Cuba.
Born on April 25, 1936, in Holguín, Ortiz entered the University of Havana in October 1953 and graduated with a degree in Philosophy and Letters in December 1959. Throughout her career, she published numerous books, pamphlets, prologues, and articles related to her work as a pedagogue and researcher.
Ortiz received numerous awards during her professional journey, including the National Pedagogy Award in 2007 and the National Television Award in 2020.
A ceremony in honor of Doctor María Dolores Ortiz will be held in the next few hours at the Calzada y K Funeral Home in El Vedado, as announced by the official press.