Julián Recio de Oquendo de la Coba

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Precursor of medical teaching in Cuba. Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University in 1784. In 1764 he obtained the position of protomédico.

Son of the marriage constituted by Matías Recio de Oquendo and Josefa de la Coba, he was born in Santiago de Cuba.

He graduated as a Bachelor of Arts on March 29, 1731 and in Medicine on April 24, 1737. In the Actas Capitulares of the Ayuntamiento de La Habana it is recorded that he presented his degree on April 30, 1739, signed by the Protomédico Francisco Teneza on the 25th of that month and year.

In 1742 he competed for the Chair of Anatomy, vacant due to the death of doctor Esteban de los Ángeles Vázquez, which he took possession of in November of that same year.

As a chair holder he received the degree of Licentiate in Medicine on September 28 and the degree of Doctor on October 5 of the same 1742.

According to Cowley, because of the good credentials that he himself knew he had, he understood that he should not teach theoretical Anatomy, which is why he resigned from the chair in 1746. In 1748 he was elected Treasurer of the University and in 1756 Fiscal of the Protomedicato.

In 1791 a report was presented to the Cabildo, in the name of the Protomédicos doctors Recio de Oquendo, Cantos and del Valle, favorable to the consumption of cassava, in which Buffon's work and Diderot's Encyclopedia are mentioned for the first time, which reveals that they had information about these works and evidences their erudition and good level from the scientific point of view.

He received the degree of Licentiate in Medicine on September 28 and the degree of Doctor on October 5 of the same 1742.

In 1784 he was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University.

His request was granted for him to be dispensed the grace of Honorary Protomédico with option and right to occupy the first vacancy that would occur in the Court, which was granted to him by Royal Dispatch.
On July 3, 1757 he was confirmed in his position of Fiscal, which he had held since he was appointed by doctor Ambrosio Medrano.

On February 18, 1758 he took possession before the Protomedicato, then constituted by doctors José Arango Barrios, Juan J. Álvarez Franco and José M. Aparicio.

In 1764 he requested and obtained the position of Third Protomédico, when the promotion to Second of doctor Aparicio occurred, motivated by the physical incapacity of doctor Álvarez Franco.

He assumed the position of Second Protomédico on October 4, 1771, by decree issued by the Interim Captain General Pascual Ximénez de Cisneros.

He occupied the position of Regent Protomédico. To complete the Court and comply with what was provided by the Royal Decree that designated Recio de Oquendo as First Protomédico, the Governor of the Island Diego José Navarro temporarily designated doctors Matías Cantos and Juan Bautista Bobadilla as Second and Third Protomédicos, respectively.

Bibliography
Actas Capitulares del Ayuntamiento de La Habana. Recibimiento como médico al Br. Julián Recio de Oquendo. Libro 26 de Actas trasuntadas, 1739 (abril 25). p. 23, 23v, 24.
Título de Bachiller en Medicina de D. Julián Recio de Oquendo. Libro 26 de Actas trasuntadas, 1739 (abril 30). p. 24-25.
Real Cédula nombrando Protomédico Honorario al Dr. Julián Recio de Oquendo. Libro 31 de Actas trasuntadas, 1758 (febrero 16). p. 14-19.
Real Cédula designando como Fiscal del Protomedicato a Julián Recio de Oquendo. Libro 31de actas trasuntadas, 1758 (marzo 16). p. 24-26v.
Decreto del Señor Gobernador designando al Dr. José M. Aparicio por Primer Protomédico y Segundo al Dr. Julián Recio de Oquendo. Libro 37 de Actas trasuntadas, 1771 (octubre 4). p. 351-352v.
Archivo de la Catedral de La Habana. Libro 10 de defunciones, folio 262v, número 600.
Cowley R. Breves noticias sobre la enseñanza de la Medicina en la Real y Pontificia Universidad del Máximo Doctor S. Jerónimo. La Habana: Imprenta y Librería de A. Pego, 1876. p. 163, 325.
López Sánchez J. La Medicina en La Habana (1731-1799). Cuad Hist Salud Pub 1970;(48):49, 73, 179, 220, 251-253, 256-258.
Cuba. Medicina y civilización. Siglos XVII y XVIII. La Habana: Editorial Científico-Técnica, 1997. p. 284-286.