Cuban congresswoman
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Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is a groundbreaking congresswoman. Not only is she the senior US Representative from Florida, but she is also the first Latina elected to the US Congress, and the first Republican in congress to publicly support the passage of the Marriage Equality Act. She believes that education is “a lifelong journey,” and has emphasized the importance for education throughout her career.
Ileana Carmen Ros was born July 15, 1952 in Havana Cuba, where she spent the first part of her childhood. At age eight, she and her family escaped from Cuba, which was under the control of dictator Fidel Castro. They settled in Miami, Florida. After graduating from Southwest High School, she attended Miami-Dade Community College in 1972 where she earned her Associate of Arts degree. In 1975 she received her Bachelor’s Degree and in 1985 she earned her Master’s Degree, both from Florida International University. earned her PhD in Education from the University of Miami in 2004.
Her education inspired her to become a teacher, and later the principal of Eastern Academy in Hialeah, Florida.
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ROS-LEHTINEN, Ileana
A childhood refugee from Cuba, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen emerged as a powerful voice in her South Florida community and as a critic of Fidel Castro’s communist regime. In 1989 she made history as the first Hispanic woman and the first Cuban American elected to the U.S. Congress. In her three decades in the House she left her mark as a foreign policy leader and human rights advocate, most especially from her position on the Foreign Affairs Committee. “I still can’t believe that I was chair of that wonderful committee: the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee,” Ros-Lehtinen mused. “And to think that just a few years before, I had come, sitting in a little intern desk, not even part of the dais.”1
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was born Ileana Ros in Havana, Cuba, on July 15, 1952, to Enrique Ros and Amanda Adato Ros.2 At the age of eight, she moved with her family to the United States shortly after Castro came to power in 1959. “We came to the United States on one of the last commercial flights leaving Cuba, to the United States, a Pan-Am flight,” she recalled, “and we
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Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
American politician (born 1952)
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ros and the second or maternal family name is Adato.
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen | |
|---|---|
| In office August 29, 1989 – January 3, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Claude Pepper |
| Succeeded by | Donna Shalala |
| Constituency | 18th district (1989–2013) 27th district (2013–2019) |
| In office January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Howard Berman |
| Succeeded by | Ed Royce |
| In office November 4, 1986 – August 29, 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Joe Gersten |
| Succeeded by | Lincoln Díaz-Balart |
| In office November 2, 1982 – November 4, 1986 | |
| Preceded by | Roberta Fox Redistricted |
| Succeeded by | Lincoln Díaz-Balart |
| Born | Ileana Carmen Ros y Adato (1952-07-15) July 15, 1952 (age 72) Havana, Republic of Cuba |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2, including Rodrigo Lehtinen |
| Parent(s) | Enrique Ros Amanda Adato |
| Education | Miami Dade College Florida International University ( Copyright ©bernate.pages.dev 2025 |