Antonio Núñez Jiménez was a Cuban geographer, speleologist, archaeologist, scientist and revolutionary. Núñez was born in

Alquízar Alquízar () is a town and municipality in the Artemisa Province of Cuba. History The settlement was first mentioned in 1616, as a coffee plantation owned by ''Don Sancho de Alquízar'', who gives the name of the community. In 1826, a garrison ...

Havana Province La Habana Province , formerly known as Ciudad de La Habana Province, is a province of Cuba that includes the territory of the city of Havana, the Republic's capital. The province's territory is the seat of the superior organs of the state and i ...

(current

Artemisa Province Artemisa Province is one of the two new provinces created from the former La Habana Province, whose creation was approved by the Cuban National Assembly on August 1, 2010, the other being Mayabeque Province. The new provinces came into existen ...

) on April 20, 1923. In 1950, he received his first doctorate from the

University of Havana The University of Havana (UH; ) is a public university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Founded on 5 January 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas. Originall ...

, and later received a second doctorate from the Lomonosov Moscow State University of Moscow. Chedaughter

In 1995, the

Speleological Society of Cuba Speleology () is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their composition, structure, physical properties, history, ecology, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorpholog ...

and the Cuban Society of Geography awarded him the title of "fourth discoverer of Cuba", placing him at the height of men such as

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...

and Fernando Ortiz, for his contribution in the field of underground Cuba. Considered the father of Cuban Speleology. In the 1950s he discovered the largest cave in the country: the Great Cavern of Santo Tomás. He participated in numerous scientific expeditions such as those to the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

, the Galapagos, and En Canoa del Amazonas al Caribe. First president of the Cuban Academy of Sciences and founding president of the

Speleological Federation of Latin America and the Caribbean Speleology () is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their composition, structure, physical properties, history, ecology, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorpholog ...

and of various national and international scientific societies. Internationally known for his scientific work in the field of Geographical Sciences, especially in

Speleology Speleology () is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their chemical composition, composition, structure, physical property, physical properties, history, ecology, and the processes by which they form (speleogenes ...

, one of his greatest passions, and in geohistorical issues of the most dissimilar regions of the planet. Creator of the Foundation of Nature and Man. His studies contributed to preparing the theater of operations, where Column 8 "Ciro Redondo" would later arrive in 1958 in the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

, and there he was appointed Captain of the Rebel Army. He participates in the liberation of

Fomento Fomento is a town and municipality in the Sancti Spíritus Province of Cuba. It was founded in 1864. Geography The municipality is divided into the barrios of Fomento (municipal seat) and the village of Jíquimas. Until 1976 the villages of Juan ...

Cabaiguán Cabaiguán () is a municipality and town in the province of Sancti Spíritus, Cuba. With an urban population of 42,075 is the 3rd largest town of the province. It is bordered to the north by the municipality of Yaguajay, to the east with the mu ...

Placetas Placetas () is a city in the Villa Clara Province in the center of Cuba; before the change in the country's government in 1959 the province was called Las Villas. The town is also known as because of its wild Lauraceae, laurel trees. Placetas is ...

Remedios Remedios may refer to: Places * Remedios, Cuba, a municipality in the province of Villa Clara, Cuba * Remedios, Antioquia, a municipality in Antioquia Department, Colombia * Remedios, Chiriquí, a corregimiento of Panama * Remedios District, distri ...

Caibarién Caibarién is a municipality city in the Villa Clara Province, Villa Clara province of Cuba. Caibarién is known as "La Villa Blanca" () for its sands and beaches. They are famous for their "Parrandas" (Carnivals) along with Remedios, Cuba, Reme ...

and Santa Clara, under the command of Ernesto Che Guevara. His literary work is extensive with more than 190 books and pamphlets and 1,665 articles, as well as documentaries, interviews, and others.

Death

Núñez died in Havana on September 13, 1998. His work is highly respected in Cuban government circles.

References

*Núñez Jiménez, Antonio, 1959, ''Geografía de Cuba''. Lex. Havana. *Marrero, Levi, 1981, 5th edition ''"Geografía de Cuba" La Moderna Poesía'', Coral Gables Florida.

External links

Antonio Núñez Jiménez and his expedition to Camagüey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nunez Jimenez, Antonio Cuban revolutionaries 1923 births 1998 deaths People of the Cuban Revolution University of Havana alumni Ambassadors of Cuba to Peru