Distinction "Juan Tomás Roig".

[Taz]

Instituted on 28th of March 2002 The Distinction "Juan Tomás Roig" Is awarded for outstanding results in the science sector in 25 years or more service by the Sindicato nacional de Trabajadores de las Ciencias (National Union of the Workers of Sciences)

Sindicato nacional de Trabajadores de las Ciencias (SNTC)

ARTICLE 51:
By agreement of the Council of State, it is instituted the awarding of the Distinction "Juan Tomás Roig Mesa", for service years, in recognition of the merits in scientific tasks to anyone of the branches of the economy and the social life of the country, The Distinction will be awarded on the 28th of March every year, the date in which the Distinction was constituted by the Union.

[Blanco]

La Distinction "Juan Tomás Roig"

[Taz]

Juan Tomás Roig y Mesa (1877-1971)

Born in Santiago de Las Vegas, La Habana, on May 31st, 1877.

He began to work as a cigar roller apprentice at the age of 11, and thus the worker was formed. He traveled to the United States once there he collaborated with the Cuban Revolutionary Party headed by José Martí.
In 1898, he returned to Cuba and in 1910 he obtains his degree as Doctor of Pharmacy and Agricultural Technician.
In 1912 he defends his doctor´s degree thesis Cactaceae of the Cuban Flora conferring him the degree of Doctor of Natural Sciences. That same year he was conferred the degree of Doctor of Physicochemical Sciences. In 1913 he was appointed head of the Botany Department of the Agronomical Experimental Station, Santiago de las Vegas (EEASV). Since then, he researched tirelessly, studied and obtained great scientific results for more than 50 years.

When we analyze his life and work, we realize the love he felt for trees. He devoted himself to protecting them, preserving them in the forests and propagating them, fighting against their destruction. He introduced many foreign species in the EEASV, which he studied and acclimatized, as well as more than 500 medicinal plants resulting from the exchange with botanical gardens, experimental stations and universities. He discovered many new botanical species in the Cuban flora. He compiled thousands of vulgar names used by the population to designate the plants in the different provinces of the country and disseminated them in his works.

Among his many works stand out the Botanical Dictionary of Cuban Vulgar Names (1928) and Cuban Medicinal, Aromatic and Poisonous Plants (1945). Other important scientific contributions, among many others, are: Species and Varieties of Yams Grown in Cuba (1973), The Effect of Shade on the Assimilation and Transpiration of Tobacco Plants (1915), Cuban Wood Trees. Their Location by Provinces and Regions (1967).

His fruitful scientific work won him many titles, diplomas and acknowledgements, among which the most outstanding are Honorary President of the National Association of Cuban Revolutionary Emigrants (1946), Agronomic Engineer Honoris Causa, designated by the University of Havana (1962), designated Member of the National Commission of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba (1964), Honorary President in the 2nd Symposium Against Yankee Genocide in Vietnam (1968).

His works revealed to men of science the potentials of the Cuban flora, the advantages of green medicine and all the popular knowledge about the subject that he collected throughout the national archipelago. He was always considered the top Cuban scientific authority in Botany and related disciplines.



Main awards

1954, Orden Nacional "Carlos Manuel de Céspedes", como Comendador
1944, Orden al Mérito Agrícola e Industrial, grado de Oficial
1943, Orden Nacional "Carlos Manuel de Céspedes”, como Caballero
1930, Medalla de Oro y Diploma, otorgado por la Sociedad Geográfica de Cuba