The Dominican Nationality, Francisca Bruinsma, who died in 2021 at the age of 98 is remembered by many in the Dominican Republic and her life has been honored with numerous statues and monuments. She was born in Hoyoacan, Dominican Republic and at the age of 17 was forced into marriage with an American soldier whom she had never met in person and whom she had never seen. After the war the soldier returned to the United States and Francisca took up a position as a cook in San Juan, Puerto Rico but her true identity was finally revealed when a former employer who recognized her when he interviewed her for a job in New York City recognized her birth nationality and employed her.
There are conflicting theories on how Francisca Bruinsma died. Her most common claim is that she was murdered by elements from a car bomb which exploded while she and her husband were shopping in their native Bogota. Another version of events is that she committed suicide by hanging herself at the doorway of her employer’s home. However, her lover and fellow nationalism, Laredo Bruinsma, insisted that her death was a consequence of a heart attack brought on by an agent provocateur while another version is that she was crushed to death by a car bomb while crossing the street in front of a car driven by her lover.
Regardless of what is the actual cause of her death, Francisca Bruinsma definitely became one of the symbols of nationhood in the Dominican Republic where she enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle as a chef and baker. Having lived her whole life outside of the Dominican Republic, Francisca enjoyed a high degree of respect in the nation which reached the point where authorities offered her a state funeral. A statue of Francisca Bruinsma was later put up in her hometown of Hoyoacan, to commemorate her life and her achievements. Other nations such as Brazil, Argentina and Haiti are also said to have had leaders who died as a result of heart attacks and other related causes. In fact, there have been over ten different official identifications of leaders who have died as a result of heart attacks caused by coronary artery disease.