Ángel Fernando Sánchez Vicente

Teacher of teachers and master of the Department of Histology and Embryology at ICBP Victoria de Girón.

He was born in the municipality of 10 de Octubre, province of Ciudad de La Habana. His parents were Spanish who emigrated to Cuba while still very young. His father was a carpenter and his mother a cook. After much effort, his father became a prosperous merchant and president of the Association of Spanish Societies, even receiving the Order "Isabel La Católica" from the hands of the President of Spain.

Ángel completed his primary and secondary education at the Escuelas Pías de Guanabacoa. In 1937 he enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of La Habana and graduated as a Doctor of Medical Sciences on August 7, 1943. He specialized in Pathological Anatomy.

On August 11, 1944 he married Pilar Menéndez and that same year he went to work as a rural physician in Calabazar de Sagua, in Mata, province of Las Villas, and as a municipal physician in the City of Santa Clara. There he worked for 3 years as a town doctor.

In 1947 he returned to La Habana and began working in his specialty, Pathological Anatomy, in different clinics in the city (Quinta Castellana, Quinta Canaria, and la Benéfica) and was also a pathologist for several years at the Orthopedic Hospital "Fructuoso Rodríguez".

Along with the practice of medicine, during that time, he began working in pre-university teaching, teaching Chemistry and Biology at the "Escolapios de Guanabacoa", a position he held until 1961. That year, he participated in the Literacy Campaign.

From that date on, he began teaching at the pre-university Institute of Guanabacoa, a center where he was a teacher and secretary until 1966. Starting in November of that same year, and at the behest of Dr. Benito Rodríguez, he began his long career in Medical teaching, as Auxiliary Professor in the Chair of Histology-Embryology, at the recently created, at that time, Institute of Basic and Preclinical Sciences "Victoria de Girón".

Subsequently, in 1976, he was promoted to the rank of Full Professor. His long experience as a pre-university teacher and in the specialty of Histology demonstrate his vocation for teaching.

In this Chair, he contributed to the training of undergraduate students in Histology and Embryology. He was an especially distinguished professor for postgraduate students beginning their training in these specialties, always present with high standards of rigor in exams, evaluation committees, and with presentations of work at scientific events.

His attention to the Didactics of Histology earned him membership as an adjunct member of the Department of Medical Pedagogy. He also participated in the development of the medical curriculum during the years he worked at "Victoria de Girón".

Dr. Sánchez Vicente was a true pioneer in the use of audiovisual media applied to the teaching of Histology. He designed color slides on transparencies to be used with the overhead projector that overlapped as the explanation of structures progressed.

He collaborated with Dr. Andrés Dovale Borjas along with other professors in the development of slide-sound programs, which used slides and a recording of the explanation of each one, among which images of histological slides were inserted. This was the precursor of videoconferences.

Even with the resources he created, ahead of the modernity of computers, like a teacher of a bygone era, he never stopped giving his classes, even when electricity was lacking, since chalk and blackboard were for this generation of great teachers, irreplaceable tools.

He dedicated long hours of his personal time to creating these materials, because he poured his soul into his classes to make them more enjoyable and interesting for his students.

He was a Full Member of the Cuban Society of Morphological Sciences and Secretary of the Board of Governors on the Scientific Council of MINSAP.

He received the "Medal for Cuban Education," and also the National Order "Frank País" for 25 years dedicated to education.

In August 1980 he unexpectedly suffered a stroke due to cardiovascular disease that prevented him from continuing to work and also from participating in the textbook of Histology by Cuban authors.

He dedicated his final years to studying, reading, and playing chess.

His wife Pilar accompanied him and cared for him until his death on December 11, 1997. He left as a legacy a happy marriage and a family united in love and dedication to study and professional advancement.

His eldest son, Ángel, became an Electronic Engineer. His other son, Francisco, became a brilliant Doctor of Geophysics. His youngest daughter, María del Rosario, studied a degree in Mathematics.

For all the years he dedicated to teaching, Doctor Ángel Sánchez contributed to the training of many high school students and physicians who remember him with affection and pride at having been his students. For those who knew him, he is a paradigm of a teacher.

It is easy to remember Professor Sánchez Vicente, heading to his class in the Theater of "Victoria de Girón", with his transparencies under his arm, the little box of chalk and the eraser. No student who attended the classes of this masterful teacher could forget the way he led them into the depths of structures.