Rosalía Abreu (15 January 1862 – 3 November 1930) was a Cuban philanthropist and animal-keeper who was the first person to successfully breed

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

s in captivity. In 1926, she initially supported research proposed by

Ilya Ivanov Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov (russian: Илья́ Ива́нович Ивано́в, – March 20, 1932) was a Russian and Soviet biologist who specialized in the field of artificial insemination and the interspecific hybridization of animals. He is ...

to breed a

humanzee The humanzee (sometimes chuman, manpanzee or chumanzee) is a hypothetical hybrid of chimpanzee and human, thus a form of human–animal hybrid. Serious attempts to create such a hybrid were made by Soviet biologist Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov in the ...

, although she later retracted the decision to involve her primates in the experiment. American eugenicist

Robert Yerkes Robert Mearns Yerkes (; May 26, 1876 – February 3, 1956) was an American psychologist, ethologist, eugenicist and primatologist best known for his work in intelligence testing and in the field of comparative psychology. Yerkes was a pioneer ...

worked with Abreu and based some of his research on developments she had made in primate care and purchased many of her primates.

Early life

Abreu was born on 15 January 1862 to a wealthy family in Villa Clara Province, Cuba. Her father was a plantation owner named Pedro Nolasco González Abreu y Jimenes. She had two sisters:

Marta Abreu Marta may refer to: People * Marta (given name), a feminine given name * Märta, a feminine given name * Marta (surname) :István Márta composer * Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer Places * Marta (river), ...

and Rosa Contreras. Her father died in 1873, and her mother moved to the USA with her younger daughters, where Rosalía attended Edenhall School in Torresdale, Pennsylvania. She later travelled to France where she married a Cuban doctor, Domingo Sanchez Toledo, in 1883; they had five children together. She returned to Cuba in 1899, where she lived at an extensive property, Las Delicias, inherited from her parents and established what was then the world's largest collection of primates there.

Primatology

The collection included over 200 primates, from over forty species, some of whom were forced to wear clothes and live in the house with Abreu. She purchased her first primate, a female

macaque The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and (in one instance) Gibraltar. Macaques are principally ...

, between 1892 and 1897, whilst living in France. Her first

, Chimpita, was acquired in 1902. However others were kept in large and airy cages, kept warm and fed vegetarian diets. Abreu also recognised the importance of social interaction for primates, and enabled them to spend time with one another. In 1906 Abreu established the world's first purpose-built primate nursery. On 27 April 1915, Abreu became the first person in the world to breed chimpanzees in captivity, following the birth of Anumá. The parents were Jimmy and Cucusa and a report of the birth was published by the anthropologist Louis Montané, a professor at the University of Cuba. Other chimpanzees owned by Abreu included: Jim (died 1935 in

Philadelphia Zoological Garden The Philadelphia Zoo, located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia on the west bank of the Schuylkill River, is the first true zoo in the United States. It was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859, but its openin ...

), Mona (the first chimpanzee mother to give birth to twins in captivity), Bula, and Gua. In 1916 Isadora Duncan visited the collection and commented on its size. Whilst most notable for her work with chimpanzees, orangutans also featured in Abreu's collection, including Guas and Guarina who later lived at Philadelphia Zoo. Welcoming to visitors and to researchers, Abreu hosted the psychologist

in Cuba in 1924, where he recorded many of the principles behind the care for the animals in her collection. He was accompanied on this research trip by

Harold C. Bingham Harold Clyde Bingham (January 21, 1888August 26, 1964) was an American psychologist and primatologist. He spent his early career as a psychology professor, interrupting this to join the United States Army during World War I. He joined the facul ...

Josephine Ball Josephine Ball (April 28, 1898– August 1, 1977) was an American comparative psychologist, endocrinologist, and clinical psychologist best known as an early pioneer in the study of reproductive behavior and neuroendocrinology (1920s-1940s). She ...

and

Prince Chim A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

, a chimpanzee. Abreu's work forms the basis for Yerkes' book on primatology entitled '' Almost Human.'' In 1926, Abreu was approached by the Russian scientist

, who enquired whether any of Abreu's male chimpanzees would be willing to inseminate a female human volunteer in order to breed a

human-ape hybrid The humanzee (sometimes chuman, manpanzee or chumanzee) is a hypothetical hybrid of chimpanzee and human, thus a form of human–animal hybrid. Serious attempts to create such a hybrid were made by Soviet biologist Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov in the ...

. Initially Abreu agreed to supply an animal for the 'experiment'; however following threats from the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

she retracted her permission.

Legacy

Abreu died at her estate of Villa Palatino on 3 November 1930. At the time of her death, only seven chimpanzees had been bred in captivity, including four on her estate. After her death, Abreu's son Pierre established the Rosalia Abreu Memorial Fund at

Yale Laboratories of Primate Biology Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

(YLPB), which supported research publication. Several of her chimpanzees were transferred to Yerkes' laboratory after Abreu's death. Another legacy from her estate was the foundation of the Industrial Technical School for Women of Rosalia Abreu's Foundation, which was established in 1934.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abreu, Rosalía 1862 births 1930 deaths Women primatologists Primatologists 20th-century women philanthropists Cuban philanthropists 20th-century Cuban women 20th-century Cuban people 19th-century Cuban women People from Villa Clara Province