Federico Poey Aguirre

Dental surgeon who contributed to the development of Cuban dentistry during the last quarter of the past century; he was founder of the Sociedad Odontológica de La Habana, professor at several founded dental academies; member of the board of several scientific journals, advocate for dental education to be of a university character and author of numerous scientific works.

He was born in the city of La Habana. His father was the illustrious Cuban ichthyologist, Felipe Poey Aloy, and his mother, María de Jesús Tranquilina Aguirre. His wife was Mercedes Orta Menero, with whom he had 5 children.

At the age of 12 he moved to France. He completed his secondary education at the Nyon school; later he studied Logic at the Saint Louis school, and in the French capital itself he began his medical studies, which he later abandoned. He returned to La Habana, and from there he left for the United States; he lived there at his brother's house and in October of 1858 he returned to Cuba.

In 1860 he began his career in Dental Surgery, with dentist Aurelio Letamendi as his mentor; he stopped studying to start working on the Villanueva railroads and was later appointed to head the San Antonio Abad de los Baños Station.

When the Ten Years' War broke out, he became involved in conspiratorial activity and was taken to the San Antonio jail, and from there transferred to the Real Cárcel de La Habana on December 4, 1868, where he remained until January 13, when he obtained his freedom through an Amnesty Decree issued by the Captain General; but the following month, on February 11, 1869, he was imprisoned again and deported aboard the steamship "San Francisco de Borjas" on March 21 of that same year, together with 249 other compatriots, among whom were several dentists.

From Fernando Poo he escaped with other companions on August 4 of that same year, aboard the English steamship "Congo" which was headed to Liverpool; upon arriving at this city, he went to Paris, where he was caught by the war of 1870, and for this reason he took refuge in Switzerland; he settled in Lucerna, where he resumed his studies in Dental Surgery and graduated on February 28, 1871; he took his degree examination in Ginebra and settled in Lucerna, where he practiced his profession for 3 years; in 1875 he settled in Nantes.

During his stay in Europe, in addition to the cities he visited, he traveled through Roma, Génova, Pisa, Turín, Venecia, and others. At that time he published Monografía dentaria and Vademecum del estudiante de Cirugía Dental. On February 15, 1873 he was appointed Corresponding Member of the Academia de Ciencias Médicas, Físicas y Naturales de La Habana. He was also a member of the editorial board of the Revista Odontológica de Madrid, where he published several works.

After the Pacto del Zanjón he returned to Cuba; in 1878 he registered his degree at the Universidad de La Habana.

In La Habana, his work was prolific in activities. In 1879 he was a founding member of the Sociedad Odontológica de La Habana; he served as president of the editorial board of the society's journal that same year and was the society's corresponding secretary; he published a work in which he stated: "The time has come, gentlemen, for the dental profession in Cuba to occupy a worthy place in the study of the sciences".

He died on January 8, 1902, at the age of 67.

He also worked in the journals El Progreso Dental, Médico Quirúrgica y Dentística and Crónica Dental.

Poey was a professor at some of the dental academies founded in the past century. He fought tenaciously to bring dental education to the university level, for which in 1888 he prepared a proposal and drafted a regulation on the operation of that school.

During the War of Independence he had to leave the country in 1896, due to his background and the persecution and imprisonment of many of his colleagues; he went to the United States and returned to the country after the war ended.

Within the Sociedad Odontológica de La Habana he defended its motto "unity, science and truth".

There is speculation as to why he did not appear among the founders of the School of Dental Surgery, for which he had fought so hard. He was appointed teacher of the Escuela Municipal de Varones of the La Habana district in January of 1900. He was a promoter and president of the Sociedad Dental de La Habana.