Maximiliano Curbelo Leyva; its contribution to the Natural Sciences

Abstract

Background: It deepen into the history of natural sciences in the north of Las Tunas and the five eastern Cuban provinces during the first half of the 20th century.
Objective: To value the contribution of Maximiliano Curbelo Leyva (1886-1938) to the knowledge of the flora of Cuba, from a biographical approach to the outstanding botanist.
Methods: The historical-logical, analytical-synthetic and inductive-deductive methods were used to evaluate information obtained from the documentary analysis and the interview with key informants.
Results: Curbelo, self-taught, became one of the most important collectors of botanical samples during the 1930-1940s in the former province of Oriente. He collected numerous herbarium specimens, wood samples, and data on common plant names and their most frequent use in the region. He maintained relations of friendship and collaboration with J. T. Roig, J. Acuña, the Brother León, the Brother Alain and other important personalities of Cuban botany. 11 species are listed that could be originally described for science thanks to the specimens sent by Curbelo. and four species that were named with his surname.
Conclusions: The information gathered by Curbelo allowed J. T. Roig to enrich his best-known works. He was characterized by a profound capacity for observation, rigorous organization of work, and exquisite processing of the specimens he collected. The recovered documents constitute a valuable source of information, which has made it possible for contemporary botanists to relocate some of the local endemism in the north of the province of Las Tunas.