| Emilio Ochoa | |
|---|---|
Emilio Ochoa about 1940 |
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| Born | July 4, 1907 Holguín, Cuba |
| Died | June 21, 2007 Miami, Florida USA |
Emilio Ochoa (born Emilio Ochoa y Ochoa on July 4, 1907 Holguín, Cuba - June 27, 2007 Miami, Florida) was a Cuban politician and former Senator. He was believed to be the last living signatory of Cuba's 1940 Constitution at the time of his death in 2007.[1]
Dr. Ochoa was one of seven children in a poor family. He studied dentistry in Santiago de Cuba and graduated in 1937. During this time he became involved in politics and was one of the delegates of the Partido Auténtico to the constitutional convention which wrote the Cuban Constitution of 1940.
Dr. Ochoa helped found two political parties: the Partido Autentico in 1934 and the Partido Ortodoxo in 1947. Ochoa was first elected as a Senator in 1940 and served in that office until 1948.[1] He was opposed to Fulgencio Batista, who suspended the Cuban Constitution of 1940 in the 1950s.
Dr. Ochoa was arrested 32 times because of his political beliefs and went into exile in 1960 [1] following the Communist takeover of the country by Fidel Castro. However, he returned to Cuba in 1961 hoping that Cuba's 1940 Constitution would be reinstituted following the Bay of Pigs invasion.[1] However, the Communist government stayed in power and Ochoa left Cuba for good in the 1960s.[1]
He first went to Venezuela where he practiced dentistry until 1965 when he went to the United States. He later taught at Wayne State College in Nebraska and then in a Catholic school in Chicago.[1] In 1971, he moved to Miami and lived in government-subsidized apartment.
In the 1980s, he practiced dentistry with a Miami medical team that traveled to Nicaragua to help the contras fighting the Sandinistas.
In 1933, he married Domitila Nunez (died 1969) and they had two children, Pura America and Carlos Emilio Ochoa Nunez (died 1996). In 1986 he married Martha Herrera.
Ochoa died of cardiac arrest at his home in Miami on June 27, 2007, according to his son-in-law, Rafael Sosa.[1] He was 99 when he died.[1] He is buried at Flagler Memorial Park.