José de la Luz y Caballero

Infobox Person
name = José Cipriano de la Luz y Caballero


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birth_date = July 11, 1800
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death_date = June 22, 1862
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occupation = philosopher, scholar
nationality = Cuban

José Cipriano de la Luz y Caballero (July 11, 1800 – June 22, 1862) was a Cuban scholar, acclaimed by José Martí as "the father ... the silent layer of foundations" in Cuban intellectual life of the 19th Century (see "Un magno artículo de Martí", in "Aforismos de Luz y Caballero" Havana, 1960, p. 139). Interest in Luz's work was revived around the time of the Cuban Revolution, and new editions of his work published, as he was regarded as a source of intellectual autonomy for the country.

Luz took his degree in philosophy in 1817 at the Real y Pontificia Universidad de San Gerónimo in Havana, and took a degree in law at the Seminario de San Carlos. He travelled extensively in North America and Europe, coming into contact with a number of important intellectuals of the time, including Sir Walter Scott, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Cuvier, and the German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt.

Caballero is perhaps best known for his often quoted characterization of Humboldt, who travelled in Cuba in the early 19th century, as the "second discoverer" of the island, after Columbus: “Colón dio a Europa un Nuevo Mundo; Humboldt se lo hizo conocer en lo físico, en lo material, en lo intelectual y lo moral” ("Columbus gave Europe a New World; Humboldt made it known in its physical, material, intellectual, and moral aspects").

External links

* Damisela.com: http://www.damisela.com/literatura/pais/cuba/autores/luzcaballero/index.htm
* Clásicos del Pensamiento Cubano: http://www.filosofia.cu/clasic/luz.htm
* Cuba Literaria: http://www.cubaliteraria.com/autor/jose_de_la_luz_y_caballero/html/biografia.html
* El Poder de la Palabra: http://www.epdlp.com/escritor.php?id=2967