Teresa Fernández Soneira Cuban Catholic Schools Collection

Teresa Fernández Soneira is a writer and researcher of Cuban history, particularly of the XIX century and religion. She was born in Havana, Cuba in 1947 to Cuban parents of Galician Spanish ancestry. In Cuba, she went to school at the Colegio del Apostolado del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús de Vedado. She and her family went into exile and relocated from Cuba to Miami, Florida in 1961. She then traveled to Madrid, Spain to finish her education at the Colegio del Apostolado de Madrid in 1964. She then returned to Miami and received an Associates Degree in Philosophy of Arts from Miami Dade College and later earned a degree in Humanities from Barry University.

She has made important contributions to scholarship on the history of Cuba and has seven books published, including: Mujeres de la Patria (Women of the Motherland) (2014) in which she has brought to life more than 1,300 Cuban women and their work during the struggles for independence in Cuba, Con La Estrella Y La Cruz: Historia De La Federación De Las Juventudes De Acción Católica Cubana (2002), Cuba: Historia De La Educación Católica, 1582-1961 (1997), about which a reviewer states: “The work identifies sixty religious orders, both feminine and masculine, that founded and staffed schools on the island; reproduces twenty-four historical documents; and lists Catholic schools in Cuba from 1582 to 1961, all arranged chronologically. As far as I can ascertain, no work containing this vast amount of information on the topic has been published until now.” (Miranda, Salvador. "Book Review: Cuba: Historia De La Educación Católica 1582-1961, Volumes 1 and 2." Cuban Studies. 30 (2000): 160-162.), Apuntes Desde El Destierro (1989), Niños Que Triunfan (Leading Children to Success): Centro Mater Sus Historias y Sus Colaborades) (2008.)

She has also published several scholarly articles on topics of Cuban history and historical figures. And written articles for El Nuevo Herald, Semanario ¡Éxito !, Geomundo, La Voz Católica, Buenhogar, El Pinareño, Convived, Ideal, and Heritage of Cuban Culture. She was the editor of the magazine Maria Stella for alumni of Colegio Apostolado of Cuba as well as a columnist for 7 years for the monthly publication La Voz Católica. She has participated in radio programs such as Radio República del Movimiento Democrático Cubano and Radio Martí, and given conferences to different organizations and presented at the Miami Book Fair. In 1990, she won the award given for the first literary contest of the Father Felix Varela Foundation of Miami, one of several honors she had been awarded for her work.