Felipe Pichardo Moya

Cuban archaeologist, lawyer, and poet. He conducted diverse and valuable studies related to archaeology, and also distinguished himself in the fields of journalism and literature.

He was born in Puerto Príncipe (now the city of Camagüey, belonging to the province of the same name). He completed his secondary education at the Instituto de Segunda Enseñanza de La Habana between 1907 and 1912. He graduated with a doctorate in Law from the Universidad de La Habana (1916).

In 1917 he returned to Camagüey, where he initially practiced law, after which he became a literature professor at the Instituto of that city, where he held the position of director shortly thereafter; he also served as a professor at the Escuela Normal para Maestros de Camagüey.

From the age of 15 he composed verses, and while still very young published "La Amiga Muerta" in the newspaper Cuba. Later, he released "La Ciudad de los Espejos," as well as his studies about El espejo de paciencia; from those years also came: "El poema de los cañaverales" and "Canto de Isla."

One of his best-known sonnets was "La Garza," and among his lectures stands out the one titled: "Los poetas de ayer vistos por los poetas de hoy," which he delivered at the Ateneo de La Habana.

Founder, together with José María Chacón y Calvo, of the Sociedad Filomática, he has been considered one of the precursors of Afro-Cuban poetry in Cuba.

He worked as a journalist for the magazine Avance, and also served as editor-in-chief of the newspaper Gráfico and contributor to the Heraldo de Cuba; he collaborated in other publications such as Cuba Contemporánea, Revista Cubana, Actualidades, Bohemia, Carteles, and El Fígaro. For some time he served as director of culture in the Secretaría de Educación, as well as director of governance of the Tribunal de Cuentas de la República.

From a scientific perspective, his life was devoted to studies concerning Cuban prehistory, in both field and laboratory work; especially in the territory of the former province of Camagüey.

He promoted collective efforts in this discipline, and recommended working both in the laboratory and in the field. He believed that the archaeologist should not be a mere collector of artifacts, but a scholar of the materials found, in order to achieve their proper cataloging within aboriginal cultures. His works demonstrate the complete dedication of their author to professional activity, and his personal characteristics as an extremely thorough researcher.

Among his most relevant publications concerning studies of aboriginal cultures, the following merit mention: "El Camagüey precolombino" (Revista Bimestre, 1934), Una visión de prehistoria cubana (1936), "Zonas indoarqueológicas en Camagüey" (Revista de Arqueología y Etnología, 1939), De nuestro pasado aborigen (1943), "Los caneyes del sur de Camagüey" (Revista de La Habana, 1944), Caverna, Costa y Meseta (1945), Cuba precolombina (1949), and Los aborígenes de las Antillas, published by the Fondo de Cultura Económica de México in 1956. In the 11 chapters of this last and important book, he addressed in detail the life of the aborigines of this region, the surrounding physical environment, archaeological evidence, and an Indian chronology of the Antilles.

He was a member of prestigious cultural and scientific societies, such as the Academia de la Historia de Cuba, the Junta Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, the Academia de la Lengua (branch of the Spanish one), the Sociedad Espeleológica de Cuba, and the Ateneo de La Habana.

Active Bibliography

La ciudad de los espejos y otros poemas, Imprenta Gutemberg, Camagüey, 1925.

Caverna, costa y meseta. Interpretaciones de arqueología indocubana, Editorial J. Montero, La Habana, 1945.

Los indios de Cuba en sus tiempos históricos, Imprenta El Siglo XX, La Habana, 1945.

Cuba precolombina. Un texto para maestros y alumnos, Editorial Librería Selecta, La Habana, 1949.

El primer caney explorado en Cuba [s.e.], La Habana, 1956.

Los aborígenes de las Antillas, Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, D. F., 1956.