Jose Antonio Ortega Bonet (October 27, 1929 – September 19, 2009) was a Cuban-born entrepreneur and businessman who founded the Sazón Goya Food Company. [1] Ortega, who was nicknamed "Pepe", was known as "El Gallego" to his friends. [1]
Jose Antonio Ortega Bonet was born in Havana, Cuba, on October 27, 1929. He attended the Belen Jesuit School, which had been founded by the Jesuits in Havana in 1854. [1] Ortega graduated from the University of Havana with a business science degree. [1] When he was still relatively young, Bonet began working at a food distribution company called F. Bonet y Cía after the death of his father. [1] He soon launched his own business. Ortega founded the first automobile air-conditioning business in Cuba. [1]
Ortega married his wife, Lucila Galvis Gómez-Plata, a Colombian student studying in Havana, in April 1954. [1] The couple had two children during their marriage, María Elena and José Antonio Ortega Jr. [1] The family left Cuba in 1960 [1] following the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro. They briefly moved to Lucila's native Colombia before settling in Puerto Rico in 1963. [1]
Ortega launched a new food business in Puerto Rico. This business would eventually become the Sazón Goya Food Company under a partnership with the Unanue family, who owned Goya Foods. [1]
Ortega and his family moved to Miami, Florida, in 1976. [1] Once in Miami, Ortega continued to run Sazón Goya, expanding its products into new markets in the United States with the growth of the Hispanic population throughout the country. [1] Ortega continued to head his company until his death in 2009. [1]
Ortega devoted his time to philanthropy, especially in the Miami area. He devoted time and money to a number of local institutions, including Mercy Hospital, the José Martí scholarship program, the League Against Cancer and the Centro Mater Foundation. [1]
Jose Antonio Ortega Bonet died of cancer at his home in Coral Gables, Florida, on September 19, 2009, at the age of 79. [1] His funeral was held at the Epiphany Parrish, and he was buried in Woodlawn Park North Cemetery in Miami. [1]
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- 1929 births
- 2009 deaths
- 20th-century Cuban businesspeople
- American computer businesspeople
- Cuban emigrants to the United States
- People from Havana
- Businesspeople from Miami
- University of Havana alumni
- Deaths from cancer in Florida
- Burials in Florida
- 20th-century American philanthropists
- 20th-century American businesspeople