Servando Jose Florentino Ovies y Rodriguez – A Merchant of Havana
Servando Jose Florentino Ovies y Rodriguez was born on 21 February 1876 in Avilés, in northern Spain, the son of Ramon Ovies and Maria del Carmen Rodriguez. He married Eva Lopez del Vallardo, and the couple had a son, Ramon Servando.
Ovies y Rodriguez worked as a merchant for the family import business Rodriguez & Co., based in Havana, Cuba, where he resided in 1912.
He boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg on 10 April 1912 as a first class passenger, holding ticket number PC 17562 (£27 14s 5d) and occupying cabin D-43.
Ovies y Rodriguez died when the Titanic sank on 15 April 1912. His body was recovered by the cable ship Mackay-Bennett (body #189) and was initially buried at Fairview Cemetery in Halifax on 3 May 1912, before being exhumed and reburied at Mount Olivet Cemetery on 15 May 1912. He was identified by J.A. Rodriguez of Rodriguez & Co. in Havana. His widow later filed a formal claim for compensation for his death and for the loss of his property.
This artwork is dedicated to Servando Jose Florentino Ovies y Rodriguez: a Spanish-born merchant who built his life in Havana and whose family and business were left to carry on without him. The abstract blue composition evokes the sea, movement and depth, while the shimmering details suggest both fragility and endurance. It is not only a tribute to a victim of the disaster, but also a fragment of a much larger commemorative project honouring every passenger and crew member connected to the Titanic.
References and Sources
Public Archives of Nova Scotia
White Star Line contract ticket lists (National Archives, New York)
Credits
Hermann Söldner
Craig Stringer
Geoff Whitfield
Link and cite this biography
Encyclopedia Titanica (2026) Servando José Florentino Oviés y Rodríguez (accessed 19th September 2026); URL: https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/servando-jose-florentino-ovies-y-rodriguez.html
