Famous Latinx Birthdays

¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Dr. Jaime David Fernández Mirabal! (1956-    ) Nephew of the Mirabal sisters (Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa Mirabal, who were brutally murdered by the Trujillo dictatorship on November 25, 1960), Fernández Mirabal is a doctor and a politician who served as vice president of the Dominican Republic from 1996-2000. Fernández Mirabal studied mental health at the University of Complutense, in Madrid. He married Lissy Campos in 1988 and the two have three children. Fernández Mirabal speaks fluent Spanish, English, Italian, and French. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Laura Sánchez Soto (1985-    ) Photos from Wikipedia A diver (clavadista) from Guadalajara, Mexico who competed in three consecutive Olympics (and was training for Tokyo 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic hit), Sánchez won bronze in the 3-meter springboard in London in 2012. She also won various medals in the Pan-American games (two silver medals in 2005, gold and silver in 2007, and gold in 2011). See her dive in this short video and read (in Spanish) about her emotional journey to becoming a mother in this article from Esto magazine. After years of struggling to have a child, Sánchez had her son, Alef, in 2015, and her daughter, Nicole, two years later. In this video, from 2015, she talks about the challenges and rewards of training for the Olympics while caring for her three-month old son: "Hay que abrirnos un poquito a la posibilidad de que ... bueno ... que se puede hacer las dos cosas: ser mamá y ser profesional" (We need to open up to th...

¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Sherlyn González (1985-      )! Photo from Revista Ronda. Click HERE .  A Mexican actress and singer who started her career by winning a local singing contest called Vamos a jugar y cantar, González has gone on to have a long career in music, television, and film. After winning Vamos a jugar y cantar , González joined a group called K.I.D.S. The group participated in a tribute album to Pope John Paul II called El pescador.  After K.I.D.S., González began acting in telenovelas, eventually starring as Rocío in Cuidado con el ángel alongside William Levy, Maite Perroni, and Laura Zapata. She has been the host of the show Netas Divinas since 2016. She was married to Gerardo Isas from 2013 to 2016. Click HERE to hear her talk about their separation in a 2015 Univisión interview. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from eldoce.tv. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Soledad Pastorutti (1980-)! An Argentine folk singer who made the genre popular with a younger generation, Pastorutti is also a TV and film actress. Her first album, Poncho al viento , is Sony Music's best-selling album ever in Argentina.  She began her career when she was only 15 after participating in the Cosquín folklore festival. Soon after she and her sister recorded Poncho al viento . Pastorutti has sixteen albums altogether, all successful, and she has been a coach on Argentina's version of The Voice as well as a host of Argentina's popular music program Ecos de mi tierra . She has performed more than 2000 times around the world (click HERE to see her speak, in Spanish, about coming to Los Angeles). In 2014 she won the Latin Grammy for Best Folk Album. She and husband Jeremías Audoglio have two daughters together (Antonia (2010) and Regina (2013)). For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 thro...

Photo from athleticsweekly.com. Click HERE .  Photo from cadenagramonte.cu, May 2018. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Javier Sotomayor (1967-   )! A retired Cuban track and field athlete who is the current world record holder in the high jump, Sotomayor is a 1992 and 2000 Olympic champion (Cuban boycotts of the Olympics in 1984 and 1988, and an injury in 1996, cost him other chances). He is widely regarded as the best high jumper of all time and is the only person ever to have cleared 8 feet. Sotomayor is the son of a day-care worker and a sugar factory maintenance man who was first sent to Cuban sports school as a prospect for basketball, because of his height. At age 14, coaches made him into a high jumper, and by age 19, he was No. 5 in the world. Sotomayor retired in 2001. He and wife Amaya González have four sons. To see Sotomayor compete and hear him interviewed (in Spanish) click HERE . For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, ...

Photo from latina.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Gabe Saporta! (1979-     ) A singer and founding member of the electronic pop group Cobra Starship, which performed together for more than 10 years and had two hits on the Billboard 100 top 10, Saporta is a Uruguayan American who moved with his parents from Montevideo to New York City when he was four years old. HIs father had been a physician in Montevideo but became disenchanted with Uruguay's somewhat corrupt health care system int he 1980s. He underwent his complete medical training again in the United States. The younger Saporta, who had always been passionate about music, attended Rutgers University, where he started the band Midtown. Midtown released five albums together. Saporta then started Cobra Starship in 2005 after learning how to manage a band on his own. The group was the main support for Justin Bieber's South America stadium tour in 2012. In 2015, Saporta started the talent management ...

Photo from uci.ch. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Mariana Pajón! (1991-   ) A Colombian cyclist who has won two Olympic gold medals (2012 and 2016) and a BMX championship, Pajón is also the winner of 14 world championships, 2 national championships in the United States, 9 Latin American championships, and 10 Pan American championships. Her nickname is "Queen of BMX." She has been married to French BMX rider Vincent Pelluard since December of 2017. Pajón was born in Medellín, Colombia in 1991 at a time when the city was engulfed in violence, something that marked her youth. Her parents had also been athletes (her father raced cars and her mother competed in equestrian events). She learned to ride a bike at the age of 3 and began competing in events the next year. Click HERE to see a short ESPN documentary (in Spanish) about her life. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.