Ildelfonso Pérez Vigueras

Veterinary physician. He dedicated his best efforts to the School of Veterinary Medicine, as well as to study and scientific research, achieving broad and profound knowledge about animal pathology, hygiene, and zootechnics. A prolific writer, he produced more than 80 works, among which two books and numerous articles stood out, which were published in different national and international media outlets. He demonstrated a natural inclination toward teaching, a profession to which he devoted himself for more than 40 years.

He served as President of the Parasitology Section at the First National Congress of Veterinary Medicine, held in Santiago de Cuba in 1936. He was a member of the Felipe Poey Cuban Society of Natural History, the Society of Biology, and the American Society of Parasitologist.

In teaching, he began as Full Professor at the Álvaro Reynoso Agricultural Farm in Matanzas, where he was appointed director. He was Full Professor of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of La Habana, and president, and honorary president, of the National Veterinary Medical College, in 1944 and 1948, respectively. In 1955 he was appointed Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of La Habana.

He was born in the city of Pinar del Río in a family of humble origin that had emigrated from Santiago de Cuba. He completed his early education in his native city, but had to interrupt it, pressed by family poverty and the need for his personal contribution to support the family. From that moment on, he acquired his knowledge through an extraordinary desire to learn, which made him self-taught, and developed in him a feeling of discontent with his surroundings, forming the rough, taciturn, and unsociable character that distinguished him.

At 18 years of age he moved to La Habana. As soon as he learned of the call issued by the School of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of the University of La Habana, he presented himself on June 28, 1910 for an entrance examination before a tribunal presided over by Dr. Carlos de La Torre y Huerta, where he was not admitted.

He realized he lacked preparation, so, after initial discouragement, he increased the time dedicated to study, setting himself the firm purpose of making a new attempt to achieve his objective. Thus, he finally achieved his goal, and on October 15, 1910, he enrolled in the first year of the Veterinary program at the University of La Habana.

His economic situation was difficult, which is why he was forced to work to pay for his university tuition and support himself. He was not an outstanding student, but he turned out to be a good student who knew how to take maximum advantage of the teachings, winning the affection and respect of his professors.

Graduated as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1913, his eagerness to undertake broader horizons in the field of science did not stop, which is why he required the Bachelor's degree. For this purpose he enrolled at the Institute of Secondary Education in Matanzas, where he obtained the Bachelor's degree in Sciences and Letters in 1919.

The following year he enrolled at the School of Letters and Sciences at the University of La Habana as an applicant for a Doctor's degree in Natural Sciences through free tuition, and later, in the same manner, at the School of Pharmacy. His postgraduate studies were oriented and directed toward deepening in the specific subject of his interest, in which he would stand out in a relevant way: Veterinary Medicine.

He resided in Colombia between 1922 and 1927, where he worked as Professor of Bacteriology at the School of Veterinary Medicine of the National University of Colombia, eventually serving as Rector of that School in 1926.

He served as President of the Parasitology Section at the First National Congress of Veterinary Medicine, held in Santiago de Cuba in 1936. He was a member of the Felipe Poey Cuban Society of Natural History, the Society of Biology, and the American Society of Parasitologist.

He made important contributions to clinical veterinary hematology, a new subject at that time, in which he precisely described the physical and chemical properties and centesimal composition of blood elements, as well as leucocytic formulas, the dimensions of red blood cells and platelets, and the average normal figures of blood in domestic animals, demonstrating broad knowledge in the subject and the advances achieved by veterinary medicine in the field of hematology.

He stood out in an extraordinary manner in the field of parasitology, enriching with the results of his research the knowledge about this discipline on an international scale, to which he contributed elements about new species of parasites collected throughout the country, which constitutes one of the most important and original results that Cuba has been able to provide to the advancement of studies on biology.

In this sense, eight new species of cestodes, eighteen of nematodes, twenty-nine of trematodes, two of culicids, and one of exdids, enriched the field of parasitology and entomology, not including the many previously discovered species that he identified for the first time in Cuba. In his entomology works he studied the culex mosquito, and made the zoological and medical history of said culicid, highlighting the importance of the discovery by Carlos J. Finlay.

He made significant contributions regarding the functions of the veterinarian in public hygiene and the national livestock industry, a topic he presented in his reception speech within the Royal Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of La Habana, a work in which he made known the great responsibility of the veterinarian and physician in the prevention of diseases, promoting human health.

In teaching, he began as Full Professor at the Álvaro Reynoso Agricultural Farm in Matanzas, where he was appointed director. He was Full Professor of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of La Habana, and president, and honorary president, of the National Veterinary Medical College, in 1944 and 1948, respectively. In 1955 he was appointed Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of La Habana.

On April 10, 1956, at the closing of the ceremony for Veterinary Physician Day, held at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, he was awarded the Honor Diploma of the National Veterinary Medical College for his exceptional works in the field of parasitology.

He died in La Habana on September 14, 1959.

Works

Numerous and valuable are the works of Pérez Vigueras on Cuban and universal parasitology. In his works he analyzed the work of the veterinarian as a hygienist and zootechnist, establishing perfectly that this specialist, in addition to being a clinician, should be essentially a hygienist. He stood out for his brilliant work as a member of the Academy of Sciences of La Habana, where he presented several works on parasitology.

Active Bibliography

"Current Status of Veterinary Clinical Hematology". In: Annals of the Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of La Habana. Vol. 62. La Habana, 1925-1926, pp. 802-822
"Gastrointestinal Parasitosis of Sheep in Cuba". In: Journal of Agriculture and Zootechnics. Vol. 11. No 5. La Habana, 1929, p. 118
"Diarrhea in Domestic Animals. Its Significance and Treatment". In: Official Bulletin of the National Veterinary Medical College. Year 5. No 39. La Habana, May 1935, pp. 1024-1039, No 40-41, La Habana, June-July 1935, pp. 1069-1070, and Period 2. No 2. La Habana, December 1936, pp. 70-74
"Influence of Parasitism on the Prosperity of the National Livestock Industry" (Paper presented at the II Congress of Veterinary Medicine). In: Journal of Agriculture of the Provincial Government. Vol. 2. No 1. La Habana, January 1937, pp. 24-25
"Functions of the Veterinarian in Public Hygiene and in the National Livestock Industry" (Reception speech at the Academy of Sciences, March 25, 1938). In: Annals of the Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of La Habana. Vol. 74, 1938, pp. 529-536.
"One Genus and Five New Species of Cuban Helminths". In: University of La Habana. Nos 46-48, La Habana, January-June, 1943, pp. 315-329
Infectious and Parasitic Diseases of Domestic Animals. Minerva Publishing House, La Habana, 1953
"Natural Infection of Equine Encephalomyelitis". In: Annals of the Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of La Habana. Vol. 92, La Habana, 1953-54, pp. 431-437
"Finlay Oration" (Speech delivered at the Academy of Sciences of La Habana, December 3, 1954). In: Ibid. Vol. 43, La Habana, 1954, pp. 194-200
The Ixodids and Culicids of Cuba. Their Natural and Medical History. University of La Habana Press, La Habana, 1956.
Passive Bibliography

Caballero y León, Luis F. "Dr. Ildefonso Pérez Vigueras. A Hunter of Parasites". In:
Notebooks of the History of Public Health. No 62. La Habana, 1981, pp. 1-177.