When we think of the great Spiritist educators in Colombia, we cannot forget this great woman, who was not only an educator, but also a pioneer of the Spiritist doctrine in our country; thanks to her tenacity and drive she managed to take the Comforter to different regions of our country, no matter the distance, the means of transport, which was often not very comfortable, but with all her selflessness in her work, today many Colombians owe her the knowledge of the doctrine.

Doña Ana, as we all knew her, was born on 24 March 1916 in the city of Cartagena. At the age of 15 months she was orphaned and was very homesick for her mother throughout her life. She was raised by her grandmother Dominga Padilla.

Married to Henrique Luis Cardona Iriarte, with whom she had 10 children. She studied at the Colegio Nuestra Señora del Carmen where she obtained her diploma as a teacher on 7 November 1934 in the city of Cartagena. The Directorate of Public Education of the department of Bolivar certifies that she worked as a teacher and director of different educational institutions for 28 years.

She got to know the Spiritist Doctrine around 1973, by special invitation of the retired companion, Carmen Peralta de Gómez, in the house of Rosa Cifuentes, where the Centre "Espírita Unión Fraternal" operated.

With 35 companions, she founded the Spiritist Society of Cartagena SEC on 7 January 1974, of which he was president for approximately 18 years, having held, among other posts, the position of mediumship director. 

From being a Catholic teacher and practitioner, she went on to teach and experience the enlightenment acquired in the Spiritist Doctrine, offering her home, her time, her abilities, her efforts and her love for the Spiritist Cause.

She devoted the last 30 years of her physical life to the teaching and dissemination of Spiritism throughout Colombia. She attended and participated in international Spiritism events in Brazil, Argentina, Guatemala and the United States of America, among others. She presided over the Colombian Spiritism Union - UNESCOL in two consecutive periods. During that time she became actively involved with various leaders and representatives of the International Spiritism Movement. During her last trip to Brazil she had the joy of meeting personally the unforgettable Francisco Cándido Xavier.  

She met Divaldo Pereira Franco, whom she invited to Colombia for the first time, and from then on every year Divaldo Pereira Franco attended the Colombian Spiritist Congress, as well as the anniversary celebrations of the Spiritist Society of Cartagena, which was founded by Doña Ana.

Her doctrinal preparation and teaching qualities make her a great writer, expositor and lecturer, having repeatedly written articles and poems of Spiritist tenor. Her spirit, always ready to study and research, her discipline and iron will to work, gave her the characteristics of an innate leader, both in her work as a teacher and in the spiritual field.

A serious, responsible, jovial woman who worked tirelessly fulfilling her commitments to Jesus and Kardec, affected by a chronic eye ailment, which led her to gradually lose her sight, until she became blind, a circumstance that did not stop her from continuing to carry out her tasks, fulfilling her duty and commitments to the Comforter.

Only when her knees began to give out did her presence and physical activity fade away until her disembodiment on 9 August 2003 at her residence when in a calm process she happily returned to the spiritual world.