Born January 29, 1948 in Havana Cuba, Cristina was brought up in the strict image of her grandfather, magazine publisher Don Francisco Saralegui, known throughout Latin America as "The Paper Czar." He introduced young CRISTINA to journalism. In 1960, at the age of 11, Cristina left Cuba to start anew in Miami's Cuban exile community. She attended the University of Miami, majoring in mass communications and creative writing, while beginning an internship with Vanidades, the #1 women's magazine in Latin America. Since Cristina had received all of her formal training in English, she then had to teach herself how to write in Spanish, which, according to her, "proved to be a great challenge." In 1979, while still working for three of the most successful magazines published in Latin America, Cristina was named Editor-in-Chief of the internationally distributed Cosmopolitan En Español, the Spanish-language version of Hearst's Cosmopolitan magazine, which was circulated in all Latin American countries in addition to the United States. Cristina held this position for ten years until she resigned to become Executive Producer and host of "El Show de Cristina." With the success of her Spanish-language television show, Cristina decided to test the waters of the English-speaking market by hosting and producing (in association with CBS Television Group) "The Cristina Show" in English. During the summer of 1992, her TV show aired for a limited 13 week run. The show,distributed nationally by Columbia Pictures Television, generated very respectable ratings in addition to receiving favorable reaction from the press. CRISTINA is managed by her husband, Marcos Avila, a former musician and one of the founding members of the highly successful musical group "Gloria Estefan and The Miami Sound Machine." The couple resides in Miami Beach with their three children. Besides hosting her talk show, Cristina is preseident of CSE Productions, has her own line of fashionable eyewear, has her own magazine, and is an active celebrity in AIDS research and education.
