| Carlos E. Chardón | |
|---|---|
"Father of Mycology in Puerto Rico" |
|
| Born | September 28, 1897 Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Died | March 7, 1965 San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Nationality | Puerto Rican |
Dr. Carlos E. Chardón, D.Sc., D.Litt, (b. September 28, 1897 - d. March 7, 1965) was the first Puerto Rican mycologist. He was also known as "the Father of Mycology in Puerto Rico". He discovered the aphid "Aphis maidis", the vector of the sugar cane Mosaic virus. Mosaic viruses are plant viruses. He was also the first Puerto Rican to hold the position of Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico.
Contents |
Chardón (birth name: Carlos Eugenio Chardón Palacios[note 1]) was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, to Carlos Felix Chardón and Isabel Palacios Pelletier. His great-grandfather, Juan Bautista Chardón, a Catholic native of Champagne, France, immigrated to Puerto Rico from Louisiana in 1816, encouraged by the Royal Decree of Graces issued by the Spanish Crown.[1]
Chardón received his primary and secondary education in his hometown and in 1915, he began his studies in agriculture at the College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts in Mayagüez. Chardón continued his college education at Cornell University when Mayagüez was struck by an earthquake in 1918 that did considerable damage to the university.[2] He earned his B.A. degree in 1919 and continued towards his Masters. He devoted himself to phytopathology and mycology and studied diseases of sugar cane under the supervision of Professor Herbert H. Whetzel.[3] Chardón, who earned his Masters degree in 1921 and thus became the first Puerto Rican mycologist, returned to Puerto Rico and began a career in the fields of taxonomy of fungi, phytopathology, and agricultural development.[2]
Chardón worked as a Phytopathologist at the Agricultural Experimental Station in Río Piedras, where in 1922 he discovered the vector of the mosaic of sugar cane, the aphid Aphis maidis. His findings were published in the journal of Phytopathology. Chardón was appointed Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor by the United States-appointed governor Horace E. Towner.[3] As commissioner he continued his studies of the diseases of tobacco and sugar cane. In 1926 Chardón traveled to Colombia where he reorganized the School of Agriculture of Medellín. He also traveled to Venezuela, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic. In 1929 he returned to Colombia and established the Experimental Station of Palmira.[2]
He resigned from his position as Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor in 1931 was named by United States appointed governor, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico, becoming the first Puerto Rican to hold that position.
Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos, president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, believed that Chardón, who had been put in charge of the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) by the then U.S. appointed governor Blanton Winship, was being used by the United States to "Americanize" the university with the support of the Liberal Party of Puerto Rico. On October 20, 1935, in a political meeting which the Nationalist Party held in the town of Maunabo and which was transmitted by radio, Albizu Campos denounced Chardón, the deans and the Liberal Party as traitors, who wanted to convert the university into an "American" propaganda institution.[4] On October 23, 1935, a group of students at the university began a signature collection campaign with the intention of declaring Albizu Campos "Student Enemy Number One". A protest against the group by the pro-nationalist faction of students in turn denounced Chardón and the Liberal Party as instigators and agents of the United States.[4]
A student assembly was held at the university on Oct. 24, where Albizu Campos was declared "Person non-grata". Chardón requested that the governor provide and place armed police officers on the grounds of the university in case the situation turned violent. A couple of police officers spotted what they believed to be a suspicious looking automobile and asked the driver Ramón S. Pagán, who was accompanied by his friend Pedro Quiñones, for his license. A fight between the men in the car and the police soon followed which resulted in the death of Pagán and Quiñones. According to the local newspaper "El Mundo" of Oct. 25th, an explosion, followed by gunfire, was heard resulting in the additional deaths of Eduardo Rodríguez Vega and José Santiago Barea. The incident became known as the "Rio Piedras massacre"[4]
In 1935, Chardón initiated a project based on the ideas of Luis Muñoz Marín, who at the time was a Senator in the Puerto Rican legislature and member of the Liberal Party of Puerto Rico, as the Reconstruction of Puerto Rico Project. The plan which was within the established criteria of President Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal was well received and became known as "Plan Chardon".[5] It sought the development of Agriculture Technicians.
Chardón resigned from his positions in PRRA and the University of Puerto Rico because of his disagreements with the Government of Puerto Rico. He left Puerto Rico and helped in the agricultural and economic development of countries in the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Iran. He returned to Puerto Rico and held positions as director of the Land Authority (1940), and the Tropical Agricultural Institute in Mayagüez (1942).[2]
Chardón published the following books in regard to his scientific work:
Chardón was in the process of publishing the fourth and fifth volumes of "Los Naturalistas en América Latina" when he died on March 7, 1965, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His son, doctor Carlos A. Chardón served as Puerto Rico's Secretary of Education in 1977 and 2009.[6]
The Puerto Rican Mycological Society has honored the memory of Chardón with the "Carlos E. Chardón Lecture" offered every year during the Annual Symposium of Mycology.[2] The Government of Puerto Rico also honored his memory by naming an roadway after him in the Hato Rey section of San Juan. The General Studies building at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus is named "Carlos E. Chardón" in his honor.[7]