Arca

Place of Birth: Caracas, Venezuela

Date of Birth: October 14, 1989

Ethnicity: Venezuelan and Colombian, including Spanish [Asturian, Castilian, Andalusian, Cantabrian, Canary Islander, Galician], Italian, Corsican, Basque, Catalan, more distant Curaçaoan [Dutch, Irish], possibly other

Arca, full name Alejandra Ghersi Rodríguez, is a Venezuelan musician and record producer. She is based in Barcelona, Spain. She received production credits on releases such as Kanye West’s Yeezus, FKA Twigs’ EP2 and LP1, and Björk’s Vulnicura and Utopia. She is a transgender woman.

Her father, Henrique Ghersi Rossón, is a prominent investment banker, and founder of VIP Capital. She spent part of her early years in Darien, Connecticut, U.S., before moving back to Caracas.

Arca’s paternal grandfather was Heraclio Ghersi Osío (the son of Heraclio Ghersi Grisanti and Joaquina María Osío Osío). Arca’s grandfather Heraclio was born in Caracas. Arca’s great-grandfather Heraclio was born to an Italian father, and to a mother of three quarters Corsican descent. Joaquina was of Spanish, including Canary Islander, and Basque descent.

Arca’s paternal grandmother was Carmen María de Rossón Vélez (the daughter of Francisco de Rossón Rubio and Carmen María Vélez Iriarte). Carmen was born in La Palma, Canary Islands. Francisco was a poet, who was born in Madrid, Spain, the son of Manuel Rossón and Balbina Rubio Pérez. Arca’s great-grandmother Carmen was born in Cartagena, Colombia, the daughter of Enrique Vélez Torres and Antonia Iriarte Cardona. Most of her ancestors were of Spanish descent, including Asturian, Andalusian, Galician, and Catalan, as well as Basque and Italian [Ligurian].

Arca’s fifth great-grandfather, Nicholas Pieter Jacobs Danies Palm, was born in Willemstad, Curaçao, and had Dutch ancestors, including some born in Sweden. He married Margarita Kennedy, an Irish woman.

Sources: Genealogy of Arca’s paternal grandfather, Heraclio Ghersi Osío – ttps://www.familysearch.org

Genealogy of Arca’s paternal grandmother, Carmen María de Rossón Vélez – https://www.familysearch.org

Article about Arca’s paternal great-grandfather, Francisco de Rossón Rubio – https://www.elnacional.com