José Leandro Montalvo Guenard (1885 – 1950) was a Puerto Rican

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

. He is known for his ''"Rectificaciones Históricas: El Descubrimiento de Boriquén"'', published by Editorial del Llano, in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

, in 1933.

Early years and schooling

Montalvo Guenard was born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. After graduating from high school, he attended the Deichmann Institute where he earned a Bachelor of Science in 1907, and then studied medicine at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

graduating with a Medical Degree in 1911.

Professional life and inventor

From 1911 to 1914, he was the Public Health officer for the municipality of

Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico Santa Isabel () is a Santa Isabel barrio-pueblo, town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of Puerto Rico located in the southern coast of the island, south of Coamo, Puerto Rico, Coamo; east of Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico, Juana Díaz; a ...

. From 1922 to 1933, he was Public Health Officer for the Municipality of Ponce. During 1934–35, he was a tisiologist at the now-defunct Ponce Hospital for Tuberculosis, and starting in 1935 he was Director of the Ponce Asylum for the Blind ( Hospital de Ciegos). In 1939, Dr. Montalvo Guenard invented an instrument that allowed eye surgeons to securely hold and readily manipulate the

eye lens The lens, or crystalline lens, is a transparent biconvex structure in the eye that, along with the cornea, helps to refract light to be focused on the retina. By changing shape, it functions to change the focal length of the eye so that it can ...

in operations of

cataracts A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble w ...

. He was issued US Patent 2,224,575.

Archeologist, memberships and interests

From 1925 to 1935, Montalvo Guenard also acted as the municipal

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...

for the city of Ponce. Due to the diversified nature of his interests, Montalvo held memberships in the

Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America's oldest society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and AIA has established re ...

, the Puerto Rican Academy of History, and the Puerto Rico Medical Association. Montalvo Guenard's interest laid in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

, especially

archeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and ethnology, in Puerto Rican prehistory and

protohistory Protohistory is a period between prehistory and history during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted the existence of those pre-literate groups in their own writings. For example, in ...

and in internal medicine.

Death and legacy

He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California, USA. He is recognized at Ponce's Park of Illustrious Ponce Citizens.''Tricentennial Park: History.''
TravelPonce. Retrieved 9 June 2012.

Notes

References

External links

''Portrait of Montalvo Guenard holding a pre-Columbian animal head sculpture.''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montalvo Guenard, J. L. 1885 births 1950 deaths Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) People from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 20th-century Puerto Rican historians Physicians from Ponce 20th-century Puerto Rican physicians Puerto Rican inventors University of Maryland, College Park alumni 20th-century inventors Historians of Puerto Rico