Olga Navarro Thauller, internationally known as "The Vedette of Verse," passed away in Havana on Monday October 26, 2026, at the age of 97, leaving a void in Cuban culture.
The news was communicated by the Adolfo Guzmán Provincial Music Marketing Company, which described her as "an essential figure of national culture and a glory of television, poetry, and music in Cuba."
Born on December 3, 1928 in the Cuban capital, Navarro was a multi-faceted artist: poet, declaimer, actress, storyteller, composer, and show director.
Her career was marked by several milestones, but she always highlighted her work as a teacher and advertising model in interviews. She was the founder of Cuban Television, became the first woman to direct nighttime shows in the country at the Las Vegas cabaret, and participated in the founding of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC).
By the late 1950s, she began taking her own poems to the stages of Havana's cabarets, accompanied on the piano by the composer Frank Domínguez, during the height of the Cuban filin movement.
Her poetic and musical work transcended borders. Themes such as "I'm Here Standing" and "I Told You to Stay" were interpreted by figures like Elena Burke, Omara Portuondo, and Rosita Fornés, and remain in the living repertoire of Cuban music.
She published her first book of poems, "Versos," in 1957, followed by "A ti" in 1958. The magazine Show named her Recitadora of the Year in 1960 and 1961, and she developed an international career with performances in both America and Europe.
In 2008, the UNEAC awarded him the Nicolás Guillén Diploma in recognition of half a century of artistic work. He also received the Distinction for National Culture.
The passing of Navarro occurs in a year that is especially painful for Cuban culture, which has also lost actress Doris Gutiérrez in July and actress Paula Alí in August.
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