Federico Sotolongo Guerra

Eminent parasitologist. One of the founders of the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine. Upon the death of Doctor Pedro Kourí, he assumed the directorship of the Institute and of the Cuban Journal of Tropical Medicine.

Professor Federico Sotolongo was born on November 29, 1905, in Jovellanos in the province of Matanzas. He began his studies in Medicine at the University of La Habana in 1922. Upon graduating in 1928, he began as an Instructor of Medical Clinic. From a young age, his scientific curiosity was matched by his political and social interests; he was acquainted with Julio Antonio Mella and Gustavo Aldereguía; he knew Rubén Martínez Villena and Pablo de la Torriente Brau, and joined the revolutionary struggle of the Communist Party of Cuba, which highlighted him in the Anti-imperialist League in 1930.

From 1934 he joined the teaching of Parasitology at the Faculty of Medicine and collaborated with Professor Pedro Kourí in the founding of the Institute of Tropical Medicine in 1937, of which he was Director from 1965 until 1978, when he became its Scientific Advisor. Furthermore, he was founder and Director of the journal Medicine of Today and Director of the Cuban Journal of Tropical Medicine.

Upon the triumph of the Revolution in 1959, he held the position of secretary of the Disciplinary Council of the National Medical College and was one of the 16 professors who remained in the country making up the faculty of the School of Medicine, heading the Department of Microbiology and Parasitology.

His scientific activity in the field of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine in general was prolific. He participated in more than 75 national and international events, among the most important being the First World Congress of Tropical Medicine in Tashkent in 1961, and the First Latin American Congress of Parasitology in Santiago de Chile in 1967. He published 5 works on Parasitology and more than 400 scientific and social papers in national and international journals and newspapers.

In 1978 he received the Medal for the 250th Anniversary of the Founding of the University of La Habana, and in 1980 he was decorated with the Medal of the World Peace Council.

In 1981 he was granted the Degree of Doctor in Medical Sciences and the Order "Carlos J. Finlay". Two years later he was named Full Member of Merit of the Cuban Society of History of Medicine. In 1985 he was named Honorary Member of the Cuban Society of Biological Sciences and Professor of Merit of the Ministry of Public Health, for his outstanding scientific, teaching and political merits, and for his personal contribution to the development of Cuban medical education.

At the time of his death he was a full and founding member of the Cuban Societies of Microbiology and Parasitology, and of Hygiene and Epidemiology. Furthermore, he was a Full Member of the Society of Clinical Laboratory Physicians. Honorary Member of the Society of History of Medicine and Corresponding Member of the Belgian Society of Tropical Medicine of Antwerp. He also belonged to the Scientific Council of the Superior Institute of Medical Sciences of La Habana.