Rosa Castellanos
{{Short description|Cuban military nurse (1834–1907)}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox military person
|honorific_prefix =
|name = Rosa Castellanos
|honorific_suffix = La Bayamesa
|image = Rosa Castellanos.jpg
|image_upright =
|alt = Photograph of Rosa Castellanos in her white military nurse's uniform
|caption = Castellanos in 1899
|native_name =
|native_name_lang =
|birth_name = Rosa María Castellanos Castellanos
|other_name =
|nickname =
|birth_date = {{birth date text|1834}}
|birth_place = Bayamo, Cuba, Spanish Empire
|death_date = {{death date and age|1907|09|25|1834|||df=y}}
|death_cause =
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|allegiance = Cuba
|branch = Cuban Liberation Army
|branch_label = Service
|serviceyears = 1868–1899
|serviceyears_label =
|rank = Captain
|rank_label =
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|commands =
|known_for = Military nursing
|battles = {{unbulleted list|Ten Years' War|Cuban War of Independence}}
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|alma_mater =
|spouse = José Florentino Varona
|children =
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Rosa María Castellanos Castellanos (1834–1907), also known as Rosa la Bayamesa, was Cuban military nurse who founded several hospitals during the Cuban wars of independence.
Biography
Castellanos was born a slave, the daughter of slaves from Africa.{{Sfn|Oliva Ferrales|2020}} When she was released, she and her husband, José Florentino Varona, joined the cause of the Cuban Liberation Army in 1868.{{Sfn|Hidalgo Martínez|2020}} She was an early practitioner of nursing in Cuba,{{Sfn|Torres Esperón|Urbina Laza|2009|p=2}} well versed in the qualities of medicinal plants. During the Ten Years' War, she assisted the sick and wounded, made clothes and acted as a messenger.{{Sfn|Hidalgo Martínez|2020}}
In 1871, she moved to Camagüey, where she founded several military hospitals near the Sierra de Najasa. Major General Máximo Gómez appointed her as a captain of health and entrusted her with the mission of creating a hospital that received the name of "Santa Rosa", in her honor.{{Sfnm|1a1=Hidalgo Martínez|1y=2020|2a1=Oliva Ferrales|2y=2020}} When the Cuban War of Independence broke out in 1895, she was already 60 years old, but she continued to collaborate with the rebels and Gómez put her back in charge of the hospital he had founded.{{Sfn|Hidalgo Martínez|2020}} When there were no wounded to be attended to, she herself fought on the frontline.{{Sfnm|1a1=Hidalgo Martínez|1y=2020|2a1=Oliva Ferrales|2y=2020}}
After the war, she continued to work as a midwife. She died in Camagüey on 25 September 1907 and her body was publicly laid to rest at the headquarters of the City Council.{{Sfn|Hidalgo Martínez|2020}} In 2002, a statue of her was erected at the exit of Bayamo, her hometown, by Alberto Lescay.{{Sfn|Hidalgo Martínez|2020}}
References
{{reflist|2}}
Bibliography
{{refbegin|2}}
- {{Cite web|last=Hidalgo Martínez|first=Mabiel|date=25 September 2020|title=Sucesos y figuras de la Guerra Necesaria: Rosa Castellanos, La bayamesa|url=https://bnjm.cu/?secc=noticias&idNews=2023&titulo=sucesos-y-figuras-de-la-guerra-necesaria-rosa-castellanos-la-bayamesa|website=National Library José Martí|language=es|access-date=2 September 2024}}
- {{cite web|last=Oliva Ferrales|first=Mailenys|date=24 September 2020|url=https://www.granma.cu/cultura/2020-09-24/aquella-flor-mambisa-24-09-2020-21-09-04|title=Aquella "flor" mambisa|work=Granma|access-date=2 September 2024|language=es}}
- {{cite journal|last1=Torres Esperón|first1=Julia|last2=Urbina Laza|first2=Omayda|year=2009|title=La Enfermería en la Salud Pública Cubana|url=http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0864-34662009000100007|journal=Revista Cubana de Salud Pública|volume=35|issue=1|language=es|issn=1561-3127}}
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Category:Female wartime nurses
Category:Military personnel of the Spanish–American War
Category:People of the Cuban War of Independence
Category:People of the Ten Years' War