Francisco Faustino de la Caridad Domínguez Roldán

Doctor of Medicine; he introduced Radiology and Physiotherapy to Cuba. His professional merits helped to enhance the campaign he undertook from Paris in defense of the glory of Carlos J. Finlay.

He was born in La Habana in the bosom of a well-to-do family.

"Panchón," as he was known to his friends and professional colleagues. After studying at the Colegio Carcasés and at the Escolapios de Guanabacoa, he graduated as a Bachelor at the age of thirteen. Thanks to a special permit, he was able to enroll in the School of Medicine at the University of La Habana, where by 1883 and at only nineteen years of age, he obtained the degree of Licentiate in Medicine with outstanding grades.

Complying with the prevailing provisions of the Spanish government, which did not permit obtaining a Doctorate in Medicine in La Habana, he traveled to Madrid, where he obtained that degree after presenting his Thesis "Contribution to the Study of Yellow Fever" (1885), inspired by the teachings of his teacher and friend Dr. Carlos J. Finlay.

Instead of returning to Cuba and beginning his professional career, he requested and obtained permission from his father to travel first to Paris and then to re-enroll in the Medicine program, which he pursued for the following six years. He was received as an extern in 1887, and later as an intern, one of the most difficult competitive examinations in the scientific world at that time. His teachers were the doctors Jules Luys, Charles Walther, Len Lefort, Jean Guyon, and Simon Duplay. He personally met Luis Pasteur. He graduated in 1892.

His dedication to study and the extraordinary interest he maintained in broadening and consolidating his knowledge allowed him to develop into an outstanding anatomist and excellent educator.

Upon his return to Cuba he was appointed auxiliary professor of operative medicine to teach topographical anatomy and surgical operations. Later he was appointed surgeon of the Hospital Mercedes, where he introduces asepsis and antisepsis.

In February 1896 he left his prosperous career to fight in the bush for his country's independence, alongside General Lacret. On the battlefield he had the honor of attending to the Generalissimo and Chief of the Revolution, Máximo Gómez; in fulfilling this mission he obtained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and upon his return to La Habana he immediately departed for the French capital, this time to update his knowledge and familiarize himself with the latest advances in Science.

Later with General Pedro Betancourt in the province of Matanzas, medical chief, civil governor of western Cuba and colonel of the Liberation Army, he executed brilliant operations on the battlefield, with scarce instruments and often without anesthesia.

After the republic was established in 1902 he devoted himself to the improvement of Cuban medicine. He was the creator of a Cuban school of surgical techniques; he himself manufactured the first radiology devices that functioned in Cuban hospitals. In 1906 he installed the first Department of Radiology at the Hospital Reina Mercedes. Subsequently he inaugurated similar departments at the Quinta Covadonga, La Benéfica, and at the Hospital Calixto García. His professional merits helped to enhance the campaign he undertook from Paris in defense of the figure of Carlos J. Finlay.

On April 25, 1942, death prevented him in 1942 from being able to complete the Spanish edition of his book on Carlos J. Finlay.

He wrote the work titled: "J. Paget's Disease, or pseudo senile rickets," which earned him the position of Corresponding Member of the Royal Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of La Habana. He received the Bronze Medal from Public Assistance in Paris for his thesis "Serous cysts of the epididymis," on July 2, 1891. He returned to La Habana, revalidated his degree and began to practice the profession.

In 1893 he joined the University of La Habana as Auxiliary Supernumerary Professor of Operative Medicine, to teach the subject of Topographical Anatomy and Operations. Some time later he obtained the position of Honorary Surgeon at the Hospital Mercedes.

In 1894 he published his first important work: "The thorax and its regions." He introduced asepsis and antisepsis, and was received by the Society of Clinical Studies of La Habana. When the War of Independence broke out in 1895, he requested the revolutionary leaders to participate directly, but they preferred to keep him in the capital where he performed liaison work. Several months later he received the order to depart and moved to Cárdenas, in the province of Matanzas, where armed with a revolver and a machete he ventured into the insurgent field, joining the forces of Pedro Betancourt. In the course of the War he performed brilliant surgical operations under difficult circumstances; he was Civil Governor of the West and ended the conflict with the rank of Colonel.

For several decades he published various articles in Cuban and foreign periodicals; in La Habana, for example, he published in the "Annals of the Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of La Habana," in the Magazine of Medical Sciences, in the Magazine of the School of Medicine, in the Archives of the Society of Clinical Studies, in the Magazine of Medicine and Surgery and in the Magazine "Nueva Vida," as well as in newspapers such as "El Mundo," while abroad he collaborated with the Magazine of Medical Sciences of Buenos Aires, with the Magazine of Medicine of Mexico, with American Medicine of Philadelphia, as well as with the Bulletin of the Academy of Medicine in Paris.

Between 1935 and 1941 he published more than a dozen works referring to Finlay's research, a postcard with the portrait of that great Cuban scientist, made by Doctor Esteban Valderrama, a primer for Cuban children and even a sketch of a cinematographic drama.

Eager to learn about the advances in Medicine and before resuming the practice of his professional career, he traveled to Paris; during this visit he had the opportunity to meet Pierre and Marie Curie. Back in Cuba, he returned to the Chair of Topographical Anatomy and Operations at the University of La Habana, where he created a school in Cuban surgical technique. Combining practice with theory, he himself manufactured the first Radiology devices, and in 1906, after a trip to Europe, he installed at the Hospital Mercedes the first Department of Radiology in Cuba, inaugurated on May 1, 1907, of which he was founder and its first director.

In the following years he organized the Department of Radiology at the Quinta Covadonga (now Hospital Salvador Allende) (of which he was also founder and first director), as well as those at La Benéfica (now Hospital Miguel Enríquez) and at the Hospital Calixto García, all of which effectively cooperated in the progress of Radiological studies and practice in Cuba.

He attended as a delegate from Cuba to the Congress of Radiology in Barcelona in 1910. Subsequently, he was appointed by the president of the republic, Mario García Menocal, to occupy the position of Secretary of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, which he held from 1917 to 1919.

Political differences during the second term of the President himself, combined with the reelection of the Rector of the University of La Habana, which in his opinion constituted a violation of the established statutes, led him to successively abandon the Secretariat, the Chair, the Direction of the Radiological Department (created by him at the Hospital Mercedes) and even the country itself in 1919, settling in Paris, from where he only returned to La Habana in 1937.

He was elected corresponding member of the Academy of Medicine in Paris in 1929, and associate member in 1934. His professional merits helped to enhance the campaign he undertook from Paris in defense of the glory of Finlay. The Academy of Medicine in Paris itself awarded the Vernois Prize to his book: "Carlos J. Finlay. His Centennial (1933) His Discovery (1881)," first French edition of 1935, under the auspices of the Cuban government. This work was reissued seven years later in La Habana under the title: "Carlos J. Finlay. His Centennial (1933). His Discovery (1881). Current State of his Doctrine," and was translated into Spanish by Ms. Raquel Catal; however, despite being ready in English, it never saw the light in that language because it went against American interests.

He was an Academic of Merit of the Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of La Habana.

In 1929 he was elected corresponding member of the Academy of Medicine in Paris. Years later, in 1934, he was elected associate member.
Honorary Member of the National Society of Surgery.

Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of La Habana
Grand Officer of the Order "Carlos Manuel de Céspedes"

1889 - Bronze Medal from Public Assistance in Paris
1907 - Knight of the Legion of Honor of France
1913 - Medal of Independence
1914 - Officer of the Legion of Honor
1933 - Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit "Carlos J. Finlay"
1936 - Medal of the City of La Habana

These aforementioned attributes made Doctor Domínguez Roldán one of the most interesting medical figures of the last third of the nineteenth century and the first of the twentieth century.

Active Bibliography
The thorax and its regions. Editorial La Propaganda Literaria, La Habana, 1895.
"Conference on operative medicine. Tracheotomy. Intubation.
"In: Magazine of Medicine and Surgery. Vol. 5. La Habana, 1900, pp. 221-230.
"Inaugural Lesson of the course on Regional Anatomy and Operative Medicine at the University of La Habana," In: Ibid. Vol. 5. La Habana, 1900, pp. 245-258.
"New procedure of cranio-cerebral topography," In: Ibid. Vol. 7. La Habana, 1902, pp. 573-587
"Appendix, appendicitis and appendicectomy." In: Ibid. Vol. 8. La Habana, 1903, pp. 289-301.
Operative Procedures. Imprenta Mercantil, La Habana, 1904 *"Ether maniacs and Chloroform maniacs. Surgical interventions in individuals who abuse ether and chloroform." In: Minutes and Works of the First National Medical Congress. Imprenta y Papelería La Universal de Ruíz y Hno., La Habana, 1905, p. 348-350.
Finsen rays X rays, Radio. Imprenta Avisador Comercial, La Habana, 1906
"Biliary pathways. Lesson on topographical anatomy." In: Magazine of Medicine and Surgery. Vol. 12. La Habana, 1907, pp. 153-164.
"Fracture of phalanges by avulsion and subcutaneous avulsion of the external tendon." In: Ibid. Vol. 15. La Habana, 1910, p. 273-280.
"Dislocation of the external extremity of the clavicle "Piano Key"." In: Ibid. Vol. 15. La Habana, 1910, p. 333-337.
Radio, Radiology and Medical Electricity. Secretaría de Instrucción Pública, La Habana, 1911
"A case of fibula fracture: clinical and radiological diagnosis." In: Magazine of Medicine and Surgery. Vol. 16. 1911, pp. 611-614.
Importance of X-Rays in the diagnosis of disorders caused by the eruption of the last molars. Imprenta Barcelona, La Habana, 1912.
"The Teaching of Emergency Surgical Therapy." In: Magazine of Medicine and Surgery. Vol. 18. La Habana, 1913, pp. 165-171.
"The Legueu-Nephropexy operation and appendicectomy via lumbar approach." In: Ibid. Vol. 18. La Habana, 1913, pp. 271-273.
The diagnosis of stomach ulcers by X-Rays. Imprenta El Siglo XX, La Habana, 1913.
Treatise on Topographical Anatomy and emergency operations of the thorax. Editorial Salvat y Cía., Barcelona, 1914.
"Current state of the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis." In: Magazine of Medicine and Surgery. Vol. 35. La Habana, 1930, pp. 211-254.
The centennial of Doctor Carlos J. Finlay, 1833-1933. Editorial Masson et Cie., París, 1933.
Carlos J. Finlay. His centennial (1933) His discovery (1881). Imprenta Louis Arnette, París, 1935.
Carlos J. Finlay. His Centennial (1933). His Discovery (1881). Current State of his Doctrine. (1942). Editorial La Cultural, S.A., La Habana, 1942.
Passive Bibliography

Domínguez Roldán, María Luisa. Panchón Domínguez Roldán. Mambí, Médico, Ministro. Editorial Luz - Hilo. La Habana, 1957.
Domínguez Roldán, Francisco. In: One Hundred Figures of Science in Cuba/ Rolando García Blanco.../et-al/.- La Habana: Editorial Científico-Técnica, 2002