Cipolletti
The Valletana pioneer stories unite the inhabitants of North Patagonia, either by belonging to the same town of origin, or by settling to work in a similar activity. The truth is that in them we find common denominators that link them. Their descendants continue those stories, stories started -mostly- by immigrant grandparents, which today extend the task of their heirs.
For this reason we find a wealth of family stories so rich that they allow us to know the social fabric of the early times. And through the magic of oral history, make pioneering stories visible.
The couple, Isnard Néstor Rubina and Cora Inés Ortega, are part of the great Cipoleña family that contributed to the aggrandizement of their community. Don Isnard’s parents were Julián Rubina and Francisca Caputo. They lived in the Buenos Aires towns of Azul and Las Flores, and then arrived in the valley, to General Roca.
The maternal family of Néstor Rubina – author of the memoirs – were of Spanish origin. Their names were Ascensión Fernández and Nicolás Ortega. Don Isnard Rubina, born in Azul, traveled with his father to the south with a truck delivering merchandise. They did it so frequently that they even opened an alabaster factory in General Roca. On one of those trips, Isnard met Cora Inés Ortega – born on January 16, 1923 – at a dance at the San Lorenzo Club. In love, they maintained an epistolary relationship for a time.
Cora worked in an office in the center of Buenos Aires. She did it from a very young age, because her father died when she was 15 years old. Isnard and Cora got married in the 1940s and came to Ingeniero Huergo to work on a farm: among her memories the fact of loneliness and silence of these lands emerged, which made her sad when the sun went down. Little by little, as time went by, she adapted. They had three children: Cristina, Néstor and Gustavo, who gave them seven grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. A few years later they went to live in General Roca, and Don Rubina began working in Mr. Allende’s appliance house. In 1957 they went to live in Cipolletti. Isnard began working with Enrique Lerner, who had a business selling packaging materials. The family lived in the house, which was directly connected to the warehouse, on the first block of Sáenz Peña Street, in front of the house of Dr. Salto, a well-known professional who was mayor of the Rio Negro city, remembered for the historical event of the Cipolletazo. when the Cipoleño people came out in defense of the communal chief by opposing measures taken by the central government.
Cora was always a woman very committed to the city of Cipoleña. It is worth mentioning that she participated in all the Parent Commissions of her children’s schools, she was part of the Rotarian women. She, together with Margarita Segovia de Salto, formed the Cipolletti Hospital Cooperator; She also joined, with her colleagues, the aforementioned Mrs. de Salto, Mrs. Tomás Herceg, Aurora Villarreal and her daughter, Mrs. de Copes, among others, the entity “For a better world”, intended to help to children’s dining rooms. In the photo that accompanies this writing we see Cora, her husband and her young children in the Cipolletti of the 20th century. As we mentioned in previous paragraphs, Cora turned one hundred and one years old this past January 16, and was feted by the city that adopted her about 70 years ago: she was given a card and bouquets of flowers by the Cipolletti mayor as a form of honor their community work.
We thank his son Néstor for providing us with family information. From here, our tribute for increasing regional history and for its important contribution to the life of the city.
