Celestino Vega
(1870-1963)

Died aged c. 93

Celestino Vega was born in 1870 in Spain. He immigrated to the United States in 1884, became a citizen in 1896 and moved his cigar manufacturing facility to West Tampa from Chicago in 1908. The Centro Español, one of the first ethnic benevolent societies in the United States, was established in Tampa in 1891 with 205 members. Vega was elected to the presidency in 1911, a position he held for five years. During his years of leadership, he raised the capital and supervised the construction of two of the society’s buildings. In 1929 King Alfonso XIII of Spain inducted Vega into the prestigious Order of Ysebella La Catolica in recognition of his lifetime contribution to the promotion of Spanish arts and culture in the United States. Celestino Vega died in 1963.

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