Barbuda has more white sand than it needs, that is why it exports sand to other countries.
By Caribbean Insider
How many people knew him, had references to him or saw him on television in their program Andar La Habana immediately admired in Eusebio Leal Splenger that way of turning words into a decoy to catch those who listened to him, because this great man who today said goodbye to life gained immortality by the work he built and bequeathed.
We were all captivated by his magnetized personality, he united to intelligence the easy verb that became a source of wisdom. He did a lot because the Cuban capital restored its old buildings, because every building of interest returned to show its architectural charms, such was his work that UNESCO declared the historic center of the city a World Heritage Site.
Eusebio Leal Spengler, historian of Havana, will always be remembered, even though he has said goodbye to us this July 31, 2020. The Excellencies Group and its president José Carlos de Santiago recognized their work with the EXCELLENCIES AWARD and in these moments of pain expresses to their families and friends the deepest condolences for this irreparable loss.
Born in Havana on September 11, 1942, he received a doctorate in Historical Sciences from the University of Havana, a master’s degree in Studies in Latin America, the Caribbean and Cuba and a specialist in Archaeological Sciences. He studied postgraduate studies in Italy on the restoration of Historical Centres, on a scholarship granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Italian Republic.
The Historian of Havana was a deputy to the National Assembly of People’s Power in the IV, V, VI and VII Legislature and also served as Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Organization. In 1967 he was appointed director of the Museum of the City of Havana, succeeding Doctor Emilio Roig de Leushenring (1889-1964), of whom he was a disciple. He took over in 1979 the restoration work of the Government House, the former Palace of the Captains General and the Chapter House.
In 1981 he was entrusted with the responsibility of directing the investments of the restoration works approved by the City Government that year; in April 1986 he was put in charge of the works in the Fortress of San Carlos de La Cabaña and, later, in the Castle of the Three Kings of El Morro.
From the 60s of the past siplo he served as Historian of Havana and until his death this morning he was Honorary President of the Cuban Committee of ICOM and Honorary President of the Cuban Committee of ICOMOS and the Heritage Civil Society, Community and Environment. In addition, he served as dean of the San Gerónimo University College of Havana, and held the titles of Professor Emeritus of the University of Havana, President of the Network of Offices of the Historian and Curator of the Heritage Cities of Cuba and Honorary President of the Economic Society of Friends of the country.
He was also Chairman of the Cuba-Mexico Friendship Parliamentarians Group and Vice-Chairman of the Cuba-Japan Friendship Parliamentarians Group. In October 2019 he was recognized as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at an initiation ceremony held by the Cambridge-based Academy, Massachusetts, in which he became an International Honorary Member.
Leal Spengler deserved last year the Rotondi Prize "to the saviors of art", which is awarded by State Law in Italy, for the rehabilitative work of the capital of Cuba, the preservation of the heritage of the Cuban nation and especially for the work of recovery of the Havana Capitol, currently the seat of the National Assembly of People’s Power.
Barbuda has more white sand than it needs, that is why it exports sand to other countries.
