Abelardo Moreno Bonilla

Biologist and university professor. Considered the most outstanding Cuban zoologist of all time.

He was born in the village of Viana, in the municipality of Calabazar de Sagua — belonging to the former province of Las Villas. Son of the marriage formed by Enrique Bonilla Quevedos and Juana María Moreno Jiménez. Later, when he turned 6 years old, the family took up residence in Sagua la Grande, with the purpose of allowing the boy to pursue his early studies there.

After the death of his father, when Moreno Bonilla was barely fifteen years old, he was forced to begin his working life. To contribute to the family's support, he taught primary education classes, between 1928 and 1929, at the "José Martí" School in Sagua la Grande. He did so afterwards also at the Secondary Education Institute (high school), teaching natural history and agriculture, from 1929 to 1933.

Subsequently, and through competitive examination, he obtained a teaching position at the Institute of La Habana (1933-1934), where he taught, in the evening session, theoretical and practical classes in the same subjects. From 1935, and until 1942, he served as professor of natural history at the "Sepúlveda" School and at the "Edison" Institute.

In 1934, at only twenty-one years of age, he received his doctorate in natural sciences from the University of La Habana, with honors diploma. Additionally, he obtained as an extraordinary award a scholarship to continue studies abroad.

Between 1935 and 1937 he divided his teaching activity between secondary education and the University of La Habana, where he taught, in the subject of general zoology, theoretical classes and laboratory practices. Similarly, he initiated student excursions for field research in the zoology chair, as a result of which he collected specimens that he used in his courses.

With the same purpose, he prepared the textbook General Zoology, in three volumes, based on elements of Cuban fauna. From 1937, and until 1939, he served as associate professor of zoology at the University itself, combining this specialty with the teaching of general zoology.

During those years he also had charge of the subjects of ichthyology and malacology, substituting for doctor Carlos de la Torre, with whom he had established correspondence from a very young age, when he began collecting snails and arachnids — among other species — that he sent to the distinguished naturalist.

Within the group of snails found by Moreno Bonilla, there was one unknown until then to science, which Carlos de la Torre himself classified as Urocoptes Moreno, in honor of who became his most outstanding disciple.

In the summer of 1939, Moreno Bonilla completed a special course in zoology at George Washington University in the United States, and in 1940 he attended another on ornithology at the National Museum of Natural History, in the American city of Washington.

From 1941, and until 1955, he taught the subjects of Fauna of Cuba and Ornithology at the Summer School, while drafting numerous texts. In 1947 he was given the rank of Full Professor, which he held until the early 1960s, dedicating his efforts to encouraging students' interest in the subjects he taught, while promoting independent work and encouraging their ambitions in the field of research.

Simultaneously with his teaching work, he held other responsibilities, such as vice dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of La Habana, between 1940 and 1953; director of the "Felipe Poey" Museum, from 1948 to 1962, and director of the Department of Zoology of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of La Habana, from 1962 to 1964.

He was admitted in 1949 to the Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of La Habana, in which he was promoted to the condition of full member in 1955, with his work "Natural refuges and national parks: their importance in the protection and conservation of nature". In the same sphere, he presented, on June 14, 1957, the work "Conservation of renewable natural resources", which remains unpublished.

From his early youth, Moreno Bonilla spoke out against the actions of the repressive and corrupt governments that succeeded one another throughout the Republic in the first half of the century, maintaining close relationships with representatives of left-wing sectors, and, among them, with outstanding figures of the Cuban revolutionary movement. After the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, in 1959, he assumed multiple responsibilities, in order to promote the incorporation of the University of La Habana into the process of transformations that was beginning in the country. Likewise, he systematically participated, as a machete worker, in the sugar harvests, from 1965 to 1970.

He belonged to scientific societies and organizations, both national and international, and participated in numerous scientific events, both in Cuba and abroad, making substantial contributions to his specialty.

A scientist dedicated to the rigorous study of various branches of biology, he was the author of more than one hundred publications, including articles and books. Among his most outstanding works are: "Zachrysia trinitaria and its closest specific relationships"; "Intermediate hosts of Fasciola hepatica in Cuba"; "The reproduction of the genus Mastigoproctus in Cuba"; "The situation of migratory birds in Cuba"; "Conservation of fauna in Cuba"; "The migration of the rabiche dove"; "The fauna of the Hicacos Peninsula, Matanzas"; "Bird Fauna in Mayarí Pines", and "Solenodon cubanus and its status in Cuba". Of equal significance is his work Notes on Cuban Ornithology (1940), of interest to ornithologists, professors and researchers in zoology, scientific institutions, universities, natural history museums, protected areas, fauna reserves and zoos, as well as his Fundamental Ideas for the Construction of a Zoo (1986).

He was founder of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba, in 1962, and until his retirement he dedicated himself entirely to the work of that institution, in its Scientific Council, as well as to the National Aquarium, the Zoological Park of La Habana, and to the conception and construction of the National Zoological Park. He joined the Communist Party of Cuba in 1966.

For his professional and political work, he was deserving of a great number of awards, such as the National Vanguard Distinction (1976); the Distinction for National Culture (1981); the "Carlos J. Finlay" Order (1981); the "Frank País" Order, First Class (1982); the Medal Za Zasluhy O. Hlami Praku, from Czechoslovakia (1982); the honors of Honorary Member of the Cuban Society of Biological Sciences (1985) and Honorary Member of the Latin American Society of Zoos, Aquariums and Related Organizations (1991).

Abelardo Moreno Bonilla died in the city of La Habana on May 3, 1992.

Bibliography
Active Bibliography
Tropisms in Insects, Memoirs of the Cuban Society of Natural History, La Habana, 1937.

Anatomical Study of Zachrysia petitiana (D'Orbigny), Memoirs of the Cuban Society of Natural History, La Habana, 1938.

"Biological Considerations on our Freshwater Mollusks of Medical Interest"; in Annals of the Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of La Habana, v. 75, La Habana, 1938-1939.

Notes on the Genus Mastigoproctus, Memoirs of the Cuban Society of Natural History, La Habana, 1939.

Notes on Cuban Ornithology, Memoirs of the Cuban Society of Natural History, La Habana, 1940.

Osorio, José M. and Abelardo Moreno Bonilla: The Spider, Great Weaver, Memoirs of the Cuban Society of Natural History, La Habana, 1943.

Biography of Doctor Carlos de la Torre Huerta, Ateneo de La Habana, La Habana, 1942.

Moreno Bonilla, Abelardo and Ramona Fernández González: The Fauna of Cuba, P. Fernández and Co. Printers, La Habana, 1945.

Moreno Bonilla, Abelardo and Ramona Fernández González: Contribution of the Cuban School in Nature Conservation, University of La Habana, La Habana, 1949.

"Natural Refuges and National Parks: Their Importance in the Protection and Conservation of Nature (Admission Work at the Academy of Sciences of La Habana, May 31, 1955)"; in Annals of the Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of La Habana, v. 94, La Habana, 1955-1956.

"Don Carlos de la Torre y Huerta, Researcher and Teacher"; in Magazine of the University of La Habana, La Habana, January-December 1956.

Fundamental Ideas for the Construction of a Zoo, Scientific-Technical Editorial, La Habana, 1986.

Passive Bibliography
Álvarez Conde, José: History of Zoology in Cuba, Lex Editorial, La Habana, 1959.

Hernández Mujica, Jorge Lázaro: "Abelardo Moreno Bonilla"; in García Blanco, Rolando et al.: One Hundred Figures of Science in Cuba, Scientific-Technical Editorial, La Habana, 2002.

Hernández Mujica, Jorge L.; Pando Guevara, Francisca et al.: "Abelardo Moreno Bonilla. A Life Dedicated to Teaching and Research"; in Varona, No 29, La Habana, July-December 1999.

1913-1992). Biologist and university professor. Considered the most outstanding Cuban zoologist of all time.

Source: In Caribe.org