Juan Antonio Cosculluela Barreras

Cuban civil engineer. Professor and historian of aboriginal Caribbean cultures. He conducted archaeological and paleontological research, and hydraulic engineering works.

He was born in La Habana. He studied at the Universidad de La Habana and, in 1906, was among the first civil engineers graduated from that educational institution.

He had a distinguished intellectual activity, combining his work as a specialist in hydraulic and sanitary engineering with his work as a historian and archaeologist, through which he contributed to the development of studies on primitive Caribbean cultures. He was the first Cuban to analyze the layers of indigenous territories and applied geological, mineralogical, and paleontological considerations to them, which became required references for researchers and specialists.

In 1918 he published Cuatro años en la Ciénaga de Zapata, concerning his indigenous studies in that area. In 1925, his quality as a researcher earned him admission as a full member of the Academia de Historia de Cuba; his admission speech had the theme "Nuestro pasado siboney".

Incorporated into higher education from a young age, he obtained in 1923 the position of auxiliary professor of Hydraulics and Machinery at the Universidad de La Habana, and, through competitive examination, the position of full professor of Hydraulic and Sanitary Engineering in 1927. He served as chair head for 27 years, and achieved the rank of Professor Emeritus due to his notable teaching record.

In 1945, upon entering the Academia de Ciencias Médicas, Físicas y Naturales de La Habana, he presented the lecture "Aspectos fundamentales de la hidrología cubana". He dedicated much of his professional activity to studying water supply problems and proposing solutions for them, developing multiple projects, among which stand out the Asbert bridge, over the Río Almendares, which connects El Vedado with Marianao, to the west of La Habana, via Calle 23; the irrigation community of Güines; the aqueducts of Güira de Melena, Mazorra and Jagüey Grande, and the sewage system of Güines.

His numerous books and articles comprise an extensive scientific bibliography, of didactic and reference value for students and specialists, in both the engineering field and in geology, archaeology, and paleontology.

Juan Antonio Cosculluela was a member of the Sociedad Cubana de Ingenieros, and received the Gold Medal Award at the Segundo Congreso Nacional de Ingenieros. He was also a member of the prestigious institutions American Waterworks Association, Sociedad de Americanistas de París, Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País, and Sociedad de Historia Natural Felipe Poey.

Bibliography

Active Bibliography

El regadío del Valle de Güines, Imprenta La Universal, La Habana, 1914.

Cuatro años en la Ciénaga de Zapata, La Habana, 1918.

Informe rendido por el ingeniero consultor Juan Cosculluela con respecto a las investigaciones hidrológicas hechas en la Finca La Catalina, Talleres Tipográficos de Carasa y Cía. [s.l.], 1937.

Factores epidemiológicos cubanos, Trabajo presentado al IV Congerso de Ingeniería Nacional, Compañía Editora de Libros y Folletos, La Habana, 1943.

Sincronismo de las culturas indo-antillanas. Contribuciones del Grupo Guamá, Editorial LEX, La Habana, 1947.

Ingeniería sanitaria. Apuntes de clase, Imprenta de la Universidad de La Habana, La Habana, 1947.

Estudio de saneamiento de la bahía y el litoral de La Habana, Editorial UCAR García, S.A., La Habana, 1950.

Ciencia y legislación sanitaria [s.e.] [s.l.] [s.a.].

Passive Bibliography

Álvarez Conde, José: "Juan A. Cosculluela Barrera", Arqueología Indocubana, Impresora UCAR García S.A., La Habana, 1956.

_____: "Juan A. Cosculluela Barrera", Historia de la Geología, Mineralogía y Paleontología en Cuba, Talleres Tipográficos de la Editorial LEX, La Habana, 1957.

Cuevas Toraya, Juan de las: "Juan A. Cosculluela Barrera", 500 Años de construcciones en Cuba, Chavín, Servicios Gráficos y Editoriales, S.L., Madrid, 2001.