Editing Gloria Estefan (section)

== Early life and education ==
=== Early life ===
Gloria Estefan (née Fajardo García) was born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García in [[Havana]], Cuba on September 1, 1957<ref name="AllMusic" /> to parents José Fajardo (1933–1980)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.miami.com/miami-news/trump-was-a-no-show-but-gloria-estefan-still-got-her-kennedy-center-honors-177188/|title=Trump was a no-show, but Gloria Estefan still got her Kennedy Center Honors|date=4 December 2017|work=Miami.com|access-date=9 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010011317/https://www.miami.com/miami-news/trump-was-a-no-show-but-gloria-estefan-still-got-her-kennedy-center-honors-177188/|archive-date=10 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> and Gloria García (1930–2017).<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article156070134.html|title=Gloria Estefan's mother, singer Gloria Fajardo, dies at 88|work=miamiherald|access-date=9 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010060622/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article156070134.html|archive-date=10 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Estefan's maternal grandparents were Spanish immigrants. Her maternal grandfather, Leonardo García, emigrated to [[Cuba]] from [[La Pola Siero|Pola de Siero, Asturias]], Spain, where he married Gloria's grandmother, Consuelo Pérez, who was originally from [[Logroño]], Spain. Consuelo's father Pantaleón Pérez served as the head chef to two Cuban presidents.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://estefankitchen.com/our-history/|title=Our History {{!}} Estefan Kitchen|work=Estefan Kitchen|access-date=9 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010011549/http://estefankitchen.com/our-history/|archive-date=10 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.palmbeachpost.com/entertainment/dining/gloria-estefan-life-lessons-learned-abuela-magical-kitchen/SjbwciDWIv3yLwLDFnJUvL/|title=Gloria Estefan: life lessons I learned in 'Abuela's' magical kitchen|work=palmbeachpost|access-date=9 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010095354/https://www.palmbeachpost.com/entertainment/dining/gloria-estefan-life-lessons-learned-abuela-magical-kitchen/SjbwciDWIv3yLwLDFnJUvL/|archive-date=10 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yIyPMXO1eo0C|title=La cocina de los Estefan|last1=Estefan|first1=Emilio|last2=Estefan|first2=Gloria|date=31 August 2011|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-1-101-55253-7|language=es}}</ref> Estefan's paternal side also had musical sensibilities, as the lineage had a famous flautist and a classical pianist.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jesse-kornbluth/gloria-estefan-like-comin_b_63337.html|title=Gloria Estefan: "Like Coming Home, But Not to the Old Cuba"|last=Kornbluth|first=Jesse|date=6 September 2007|website=Huffington Post|access-date=11 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150822061114/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jesse-kornbluth/gloria-estefan-like-comin_b_63337.html|archive-date=22 August 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Estefan's mother Gloria Fajardo, nicknamed "Big Gloria", won an international contest during her childhood and received a Hollywood offer to dub [[Shirley Temple]]'s films in [[Spanish language|Spanish]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article156070134.html|title=Gloria Estefan's mother, singer Gloria Fajardo, dies at 88|work=miamiherald|access-date=11 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010060622/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article156070134.html|archive-date=10 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=https://people.com/archive/cover-story-one-step-at-a-time-vol-33-no-25/|title=One Step at a Time|work=PEOPLE.com|access-date=11 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011214717/https://people.com/archive/cover-story-one-step-at-a-time-vol-33-no-25/|archive-date=11 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> However, Leonardo García did not permit his daughter to pursue the offer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/performing-arts/article177825561.html|title='On Your Feet!' finally makes it to Miami — and is all the more powerful in the current political climate|work=miamiherald|access-date=11 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012020003/https://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/performing-arts/article177825561.html|archive-date=12 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Gloria Fajardo earned a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in education in Cuba, but her diploma and other papers were destroyed by Cuban officials when she left for the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jul/12/gloria-estefan-my-family-values|title=Gloria Estefan: My family values|last=McGrath|first=Nick|date=12 July 2013|website=The Guardian|access-date=11 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010134748/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jul/12/gloria-estefan-my-family-values|archive-date=10 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Estefan's paternal grandparents were José Manuel Fajardo González and Amelia Montano. José Manuel was a Cuban soldier and a motor escort for the wife of [[President of Cuba|Cuban president]] [[Fulgencio Batista]], and Amelia Montano was a poet. As a result of the [[Cuban Revolution]], the Fajardo family fled and settled in [[Miami]], in 1959, and ran one of the first Cuban restaurants in the city.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://siouxcityjournal.com/lifestyles/food-and-cooking/rhythm-of-the-cuban-kitchen-star-of-new-cookbook/article_d689acff-7eed-5175-b3a3-c937e55cd598.html|title=Rhythm of the Cuban kitchen star of new cookbook|work=Sioux City Journal|access-date=9 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010060715/https://siouxcityjournal.com/lifestyles/food-and-cooking/rhythm-of-the-cuban-kitchen-star-of-new-cookbook/article_d689acff-7eed-5175-b3a3-c937e55cd598.html|archive-date=10 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.domingoeluniversal.mx/historias/detalle/La+cubana+milagrosa-1951 |title=La cubana milagrosa |date=November 17, 2013 |website=Domingo Historias |language=Spanish |access-date=August 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531131321/http://www.domingoeluniversal.mx/historias/detalle/La+cubana+milagrosa-1951 |archive-date=31 May 2019}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-06-22-ca-5809-story.html|title=Q&A WITH GLORIA ESTEFAN : 'Mi Tierra': Paying Tribute to Her Roots|last=Lopetegui|first=Enrique|date=22 June 1993|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=11 October 2018|issn=0458-3035|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023044421/http://articles.latimes.com/1993-06-22/entertainment/ca-5809_1_estefan-mi-tierra|archive-date=23 October 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1961, Estefan's father José participated in the failed [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]]. He was captured by his cousin, who was a member of [[Fidel Castro]]'s army, and imprisoned in Cuba for nearly two years.<ref name=":3" /> On his return, he joined the United States military and fought in the [[Vietnam War]].

After returning from the [[Vietnam War]] in 1968, Estefan's father became ill with [[multiple sclerosis]], attributed to [[Agent Orange]] exposure that he suffered in Vietnam.<ref name=":4" /> Estefan helped her mother care for him and her younger sister Rebecca, nicknamed "Becky" (b. 1963), while her mother worked to support them. Gloria Fajardo first had to regain her teaching credentials, then worked as a schoolteacher for the [[Miami-Dade County Public Schools|Dade County Public School system]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jul/12/gloria-estefan-my-family-values|title=Gloria Estefan: My family values|last=McGrath|first=Nick|date=12 July 2013|website=The Guardian|access-date=9 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010134748/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jul/12/gloria-estefan-my-family-values|archive-date=10 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/gloria-estefan-left-cuba-as-a-young-child-but-the-island-defines-her-and-her-music/2017/11/28/1eeb1bae-be43-11e7-8444-a0d4f04b89eb_story.html|title=Gloria Estefan left Cuba as a young child, but the island defines her, and her music|last=Heller|first=Karen|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=9 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010011429/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/gloria-estefan-left-cuba-as-a-young-child-but-the-island-defines-her-and-her-music/2017/11/28/1eeb1bae-be43-11e7-8444-a0d4f04b89eb_story.html|archive-date=10 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> When Estefan was nine, she alleged that a music teacher hired to teach her guitar lessons sexually abused her.<ref>{{Cite web|date=30 September 2021|title=Singer Gloria Estefan Reveals She was Sexually Abused at Age Nine – September 30, 2021|url=https://dailynewsbrief.com/2021/09/30/singer-gloria-estefan-reveals-she-was-sexually-abused-at-age-nine/|access-date=1 October 2021|website=The Daily News Brief|language=en-US|archive-date=1 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001121139/https://dailynewsbrief.com/2021/09/30/singer-gloria-estefan-reveals-she-was-sexually-abused-at-age-nine/|url-status=dead}}</ref> She alleged that the man told her that he would kill her mother if she told anyone about the abuse. Estefan told her mother who alerted the police of the allegation; charges were not pressed because of the additional trauma she felt Estefan would undergo as a result of testifying against the perpetrator. When Estefan was 16, her father's illness led him to be hospitalized at a [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|Veterans Administration]] medical facility.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qpxkc97jbZcC&pg=PA197|title=Culturally Diverse Parent-Child and Family Relationships: A Guide for Social Workers and Other Practitioners|last=Webb|first=Nancy Boyd|date=10 July 2001|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-50660-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qR-sAknSEngC|title=Gloria Estefan|last=Benson|first=Michael|date=2000|publisher=Twenty-First Century Books|isbn=978-0-8225-4982-6}}</ref>

Estefan became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1974 under the name Gloria Garcia Fajardo.

=== Education ===
Estefan was raised [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] and attended [[Our Lady of Lourdes Academy]] in Miami, where she was a member of the [[National Honor Society]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/gloria-and-emilio-estefan-build-a-music-empire-and-a-family-compound-1448988567|title=Gloria and Emilio Estefan Build a Music Empire and a Family Compound|date=1 December 2015|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|access-date=9 October 2018|issn=0099-9660|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009211514/https://www.wsj.com/articles/gloria-and-emilio-estefan-build-a-music-empire-and-a-family-compound-1448988567|archive-date=9 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Estefan attended the [[University of Miami]] in [[Coral Gables, Florida]], where she graduated in 1979 with a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in psychology and a minor in French. While attending the University of Miami, Estefan also worked as an English, Spanish, and French translator at [[Miami International Airport]]'s Customs Department and, because of her language abilities, says she was once approached by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] as a possible employee.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/4947063/Singer-Gloria-Estefan-says-CIA-tried-to-recruit-her-as-a-spy.html |title=Singer Gloria Estefan says CIA tried to recruit her as a spy |first=Urmee |last=Khan |journal=Daily Telegraph |date=6 March 2009 |access-date=February 19, 2025 |issn=0307-1235 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011013731/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/4947063/Singer-Gloria-Estefan-says-CIA-tried-to-recruit-her-as-a-spy.html |archive-date=11 October 2018}}</ref> In 1984, she was inducted into the [[Iron Arrow Honor Society]], the highest honor bestowed by the University of Miami.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091120021357/http://www6.miami.edu/miami-magazine/fall00/arrowheads.html "Arrow Heads,"] ''Miami magazine'', Fall 2000</ref>