Isabel la Negra

Isabel Luberza Oppenheimer^{[note 1]} (23 July 1901^[7] - 4 January 1974), better known as "Isabel la Negra", was a Puerto Rican brothel owner and madam in barrio Maragüez, Ponce, Puerto Rico.^[8][9] Her name and her brothel, Elizabeth's Dancing Club, became part of Puerto Rican folklore both during her life and posthumously.

Early years and youth

Street sign on Calle Isabel la Negra in Barrio San Antón

Isabel Luberza Oppenheimer was born in barrio San Anton, Ponce, Puerto Rico,^[10] on 23 July 1901.

Apart from her business as a madam, well documented in many Puerto Rican newspapers such as El Dia and El Vocero, not much is known about her life. One widely circulated version is that Isabel left home as a young teenager to live with a wealthy man, only to find out that he was married.^[11] She then dated, and married, a much older man, a wealthy American.^[12]

Business and career

From the late 1930s to the mid-1960s Isabel la Negra owned and operated her bordello in the municipality of Ponce. At that time prostitution was tolerated. Her bordello was allegedly visited by politicians, businessmen, clergy members, etc. but this remains conjecture.^[13]

Dubbed by the public Isabel la Negra, she declared herself "Madame" of her brothel. Isabel had two brothels: one in Barrio San Anton and another one in Barrio Maraguez.^[14] While her brothel businesses made her quite wealthy, the Catholic Church did not accept her donations because of her past and the illicit nature of her profession.^[15]

Death

Tomb of Isabel La Negra in the Cementerio Civil de Ponce, adjacent to Cementerio Católico San Vicente de Paul

Isabel la Negra was shot dead on 4 January 1974, an innocent bystander of a drug-related homicide^[16] which occurred in one of her establishments. She was 72 years old. She was buried at Cementerio Civil de Ponce, a cemetery next to the historic Cementerio Católico San Vicente de Paul cemetery.

Literary and media representations

Several of Puerto Rico's most important contemporary authors and filmmakers have been inspired by Isabel Luberza Oppenheimer's life and made works based on her experiences. In 1975, Rosario Ferré and Manuel Ramos Otero published two stories about Isabel la Negra in the literary journal Zona de carga y descarga. These stories were later reprinted in short-story collections by each author.^[17][18]

In 1979,^[19] a film about her life was released, starring Míriam Colón as Isabel, with José Ferrer, Raúl Juliá, Miguel Ángel Suárez, and Henry Darrow. The movie was titled Life of Sin, and was directed by Efraín López Neris.^[20]

In 2006, author Mayra Santos-Febres published a novel based on the life of Isabel la Negra titled Nuestra Señora de la Noche. The novel was published by Espasa-Calpe in Madrid, Spain. (ISBN 84-670-2136-5.)^[21][22]

Legacy

There is a street in Ponce, crossed by Papo Franceschi street, and named to the memory of Isabel La Negra at Barrio San Antón, the community where Isabel la Negra was born and raised.^[23]

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans
• German immigration to Puerto Rico

Notes

1. ↑
   This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Luberza and the second or maternal family name is Oppenheimer.

References