Martha Gularte

Fermina Gularte Bautista (18 June 1919 – 12 August 2002), better known by her stage name Martha Gularte, was a Uruguayan candombe dancer, choreographer, poet and vedette. She became a symbol of carnival and Afro-Uruguayan culture.

Early life and family Fermina Gularte Bautista was born on a ranch in Paso de los Novillos, Tacuarembó, Uruguay, in 1919. Her paternal grandfather was an enslaved man in Brazil.

Gularte spent her childhood in orphanages in Montevideo. She met the poet Juana de Ibarbourou who was visiting the orphanage.

Career

In 1946, Gularte was hired to work at Enrico Venturino Soto's "Caupolican Circus," but left as she did not like the roaring of the animals. In the 1960s, she joined the troupe Morenada. and Katy.