Manuel Francisco Gran Guilledo ( province of Havana , October 28, 1893 – Havana , April 3 , 1962 ). Professor of Superior Physics, civil engineer and Cuban architect. He was the dominant figure in physics in Cuba in the first half of the 20th century.
Summary
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- 1 Biographical summary
- 1 Studies
- 2 Work history
- 3 Political performance
- 4 Carrots
- 2 Active bibliography
- 3 Passive bibliography
- 4 Sources
biographical synthesis
He was born in El Cano, a town that at that time belonged to the Ciudad de la Habana province .
Studies
He attended high school at night at the School of Arts and Crafts in the capital while working, first as a bricklayer and then as a typographer, to earn a living. He graduated from the University of Havana as an Architect ( 1918 ), Civil Engineer (1918), Doctor of Physical-Mathematical Sciences ( 1922 ) and Doctor of Physical-Chemical Sciences ( 1925 ).
work history
Starting in 1923 and until the closure of the University by the tyranny of Fulgencio Batista in 1956 , he taught the basic physics courses that students of the Physical-Mathematical Sciences, Physical-Chemical Sciences, and Engineering Sciences careers had to take. the University of Havana, a study center from where he radiated his influence on the way of conceiving and presenting physics throughout the country for more than thirty years. Not a few professionals who attended his university courses and conferences acquired in Gran’s classes a taste for finesse in details and rigor and elegance in presentation.
He published in print and mimeograph much of the study material for his university courses in Higher Physics, which stabilized around 1929. On the other hand, the physics, mathematics and other manuals that he published for the use of primary and secondary school students Secondary school, contributed considerably to extend the sphere of influence of his peculiar way of explaining, in particular, his remarkable Elements of general and experimental physics, in two thick volumes, published in 1939 – 1940 , reissued and reprinted several times.
Wise in his specialty and endowed with a vast scientific and humanistic culture, which he acquired in his constant and thoughtful reading of a lifetime in several languages, he developed in his lessons, dissertations and writings, a very own style, refined and eloquent at the same time. . For the purpose of popularizing science, or to present the results of his studies, or meditations on his experiences, he gave several memorable dissertations, such as those entitled “The luminous wave” ( 1929 ), ” Félix Varela and science” ( 1945 ), and “Teach and educate” ( 1954 ), among others.
political performance
A man of recognized honesty and a liberal-progressive position, although not radical, he accepted the nomination for senator of the Republic in the 1948 elections under the slogan “Shame against money”. He was the first Ambassador of Cuba in France , appointed by the Revolutionary Government formed in January 1959 , a post he held from May of that year until the end of 1960 .
Death
He died in Havana City on April 3 , 1962 .