Skip to content
VitrineRoyal Houses of Europe
Sign in

Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

b. 1956

Born
22 Mar 1956, Marianao
Country of birth
Cuba

Living person. The family sees only the name, dates and photo; everything else stays private unless they choose to share it.

facts
5
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

A life in time

  1. Born · Marianao

    Birth, Marianao

  2. Child born: Guillaume V, Grand Duke of Luxembourg

    Birth, Grand Duchess Charlotte Maternity Hospital

  3. Child born: Félix of Luxembourg

    Birth, Grand Duchess Charlotte Maternity Hospital

  4. Child born: Louis of Luxembourg

    Birth, Luxembourg

  5. Child born: Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg

    Birth, Luxembourg

  6. Child born: Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg

    Birth, Luxembourg

What was it like?

The world around Marianao, 1956: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Maria was born the same year as Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson, and Carrie Fisher.

Born the same year

  • Tom Hanks

    American actor and film producer (born 1956)

  • Mel Gibson

    American actor, director, producer and screenwriter (born 1956)

  • Carrie Fisher

    American actress, writer and screenwriter (1956–2016)

  • Martina Navratilova

    Czech-American tennis player

  • Theresa May

    Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2019

  • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

    6th President of the Islamic Republic of Iran from 2005 to 2013

Fashion

Formal Men's Fashion in the 1950s

In the 1950s, elegant men wore single or double-breasted suits made of drill fabric, while shorts were strictly reserved for athletes in stadiums. Wearing shirtsleeves in public was considered informal, often limited to students or those who could not afford jackets.

Mourning and Funeral Customs

Strict mourning rituals in the 1950s required women to dress entirely in black for at least nine days, during which they could visit a church but were forbidden from singing or attending parties. Poor women sometimes struggled to afford the costs of a funeral, which could exceed 100 pesos.

Music

Carnival instruments and everyday percussion items

Carnival conga groups in Santiago de Cuba used the corneta china, a high-pitched Chinese double-reed instrument, to lead collective singing and signal the start of parades. These groups also repurposed everyday items like frying pans, iron railings, and car tire rims as percussion instruments to increase rhythmic volume.

Family religious altars and midnight dancing

During festive saint celebrations, rural communities set up family altars in living rooms adorned with candles and flowers. Participants held competitive singing sessions, followed by midnight dances accompanied by small son ensembles.

Getting around

Daily train connections in the 1950s

In the 1950s, the railway remained a vital connection, with twelve departures daily from a single station, including six towards Havana and six toward the port of Batabanó.

Rural horse and mule transport

Peasants traditionally used horses and sturdier mules to carry produce like coffee to towns, while horse-drawn buggies served as common passenger transport for everyday activities like work, weddings, and funerals.

Daily life

Rural housing conditions were rudimentary

In rural areas, 88 percent of homes lacked electricity in the 1950s, while 60 percent of rural families lived in huts with dirt floors and thatched roofs.

Around 1925–1949

Lack of sanitation and water

Nearly two-thirds of the population lacked running water, and 43 percent of homes did not have indoor toilets, a figure that reached 97 percent in rural regions.

Food

Affordable complete meals in 1950s Cuba

In the 1950s, for just 15 cents, one could buy a "completa" meal consisting of white rice, stew, meat, and fried ripe plantains at a Chinese-run fonda.

Meat was a rare luxury for many

In the 1950s, meat consumption was a privilege; a 1956 survey found that only 4 percent of rural families regularly ate meat.

Prices and wages

Domestic economy and food budgets

In the 1950s, while some women earned as little as 10 pesos a month as domestic workers, more affluent households spent between 9 and 27 pesos monthly to feed a family of four.

Purchasing power in the 1950s

During the 1950s, a person could buy a significant amount of food for a month with just 20 pesos, or purchase rice, sugar, two steaks, root vegetables, and a beer for about five pesos.

Work

Prevalence of Manual Labor

Manual labor was overwhelmingly common, with 86 percent of agricultural tasks performed by hand. The reliance on manual labor was such that some laborers continued to work well into their 90s to support their families.

Seasonal Sugar Harvest and Unemployment

The sugar harvest (zafra) was the dominant economic event, forcing hundreds of thousands of seasonal workers into intense labor for only three months a year. During the off-season, or "tiempo muerto," many workers faced extreme poverty and unemployment.

News and letters

Organized Postal Service Before 1959

Before 1959, Cuba had a well-organized postal system with offices in every major city providing universal mail and telegraph services.

Radio and Postal Communication Changes

In the 1950s, popular radio programs like El Buzon de Clavelito encouraged listeners to write letters to seek solutions to their problems. By the early 1960s, government censorship led many to stop using the official postal system to communicate with relatives abroad.

During their lifetime

  1. 1980

    The 1980 Mariel boatlift exodus

    In 1980, the Cuban government opened the port of Mariel, allowing approximately 125,000 Cubans to depart for the United States over five months.

  2. 1991

    Economic crisis: The Special Period

    Following the loss of Soviet subsidies, Cuba entered a severe economic crisis known as the Special Period in 1991, during which food and energy were rationed.

  3. 1994

    The 1994 balsero migration crisis

    In August 1994, facing economic distress and protests, the Cuban government allowed thousands of citizens to flee, leading to the arrival of over 30,000 rafters in the United States.

Family

Parents

Spouses

Children

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.