Franklin Summer Earle. First director of the Agronomic Experimental Station of Santiago de las Vegas (today INIFAT)

Abstract

The Central Experimental Agronomic Station of “Santiago de Las Vegas” (nowadays INIFAT), is the first agricultural research institution in Cuba and of the countries of Hispanic America. It possesses an accumulative tradition of knowledge, given by the solid organizational scientific culture, where diverse directors' inside in the scientific formation. Their first director was Frankling Summer Earle, North American grateful scientist, included in the book “American Men of Science” published in 1927, where was considered as one of the first 1000 scientific more remarkable in United States. In this work are exposed aspects of their life and work, also the incidence of family context in your developed, studies, as well as the formation and professional development. He exposed the firsts strategies and objectives in the Experimental Station as well as wrote many articles, with emphasis in mycology. He was the first research in the Station that collected mushrooms and promoted the conformation of the herbarium. This thematic prevails nowadays in INIFAT, and prestige so much national as international, because this institution have been continued after years contributions with new species and genera of mushrooms for the science, In spite of their short time how director to make many contribution in the science organization as well as to creation experimentation field in Herradura, Pinar del Rio, where he check the scientific results from Station that directed, which transformed it into an intermediary bridge among the agriculture modernization and the problems that presented in situ the North American and insular farmers. He dead in Herradura, Pinar del Rio, January 31, 1929, to the 73 years of age. In this article we want homage to this science man that contributed to exist today the old scientific institution in Cuba.