José María de la Torre de la Torre

Cuban geographer, archaeologist, historiographer, and pedagogue who dedicated much of his intellectual work to the study of Cuban local history.

He was a professor of Geography at the University of La Habana and was a member of the Academy of History of Madrid, and of the Geography Societies of London and Paris, the Ethnography Society of New York, and the Society of Antiquarians of Copenhagen.

He was born in La Habana. From a very young age he showed signs of his clear intelligence, which allowed him to learn without difficulty the most difficult subjects. At 17 years old he graduated with a bachelor's degree in jurisprudence and law, but did not practice law for long.

From age twelve, his uncle Antonio María de la Torre assigned him to classify many historical and geographical documents that he possessed, and young José not only carried out his difficult task, but also benefited greatly from it, publishing in 1833 a notable Ancient Map of Cuba, accompanied by erudite Memoirs. This work earned great praise and no one would have said that its author was only 18 years old.

Soon after, he began to collaborate in the principal newspapers of the island, publishing remarkable works on archaeology, history, and geography that gave him just renown and opened the doors of the Academy of History of Madrid, the Geography Societies of London and Paris, the Ethnography Society of New York, and the Society of Antiquarians of Copenhagen.

In 1842 he was appointed, due to university reform, professor of geography and history, and in 1843 member of the Commission of Statistics and Territorial Division of the island.

He was commissioned in 1848 to make a trip to the United States, from which he returned with a wealth of information, data, and instruments that were most useful for the industrial and agricultural development of Cuba.

He approached all branches of human knowledge and although he was not a genius in any of them nor did he say anything new, he compiled and popularized a series of diverse knowledge.

He published a large number of works for education, of some of which 400,000 copies were printed. Among his most important books are:
Synoptic Table of the Spanish Monarchy (1845)
Treatise on Cosmography
Cuban Robinson
Ancient Map of the Island of Cuba
What We Were and What We Are or Old and Modern Havana: First work of a fairly complete study for its time on Cuban folklore.
Geographical, Historical, Statistical, and Genealogical Dictionary of the Island of Cuba, jointly with the scholar Tranquilino Sandalio de Noda.

He died at sea on December 23, 1873.