Carlos E. Chardón Palacios | |
|---|---|
Carlos Eugenio Chardón Palacios | |
 "Father of Mycology in Puerto Rico" | |
| Born | 28 September 1897[1] |
| Died | 7 March 1965 (1965-03-08) (aged 67) |
| Alma mater | Cornell University (BA) |
| Known for | Discoveredvector of thesugar cane Mosaic virus |
| Children | Carlos A. Chardón López |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Phytopathology andMycology |
| Institutions | Agricultural Experimental Station (1922) PR Dept of Agriculture (1920s) |
| Patrons | Bolivia,Colombia,Dominican Republic,Iran,Puerto Rico, andVenezuela |
| Doctoral advisor | Herbert H. Whetzel |
| Notes | |
Carlos Fernando Chardón (brother) | |
Carlos Eugenio Chardón Palacios (28 September 1897 – 7 March 1965) was the first Puerto Ricanmycologist, a high-ranking official in government on agriculture during the 1920s, the first Puerto Rican appointed as Chancellor of theUniversity of Puerto Rico (1931–1935), and the head of thePuerto Rico Reconstruction Administration in the mid-to late 1930s during theGreat Depression. He was also known as "the Father of Mycology in Puerto Rico". He discovered that theaphid "Aphis maidis" was the vector of the sugar cane Mosaic virus. Mosaic viruses are plant viruses.
In the 1920s, he was appointed as Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor. In that position, he traveled in Central and South America, aiding agricultural programs in Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia and Dominican Republic. After serving as a university administrator and head of a major agency, he returned to his academic work in the fields of land use and agriculture in 1940 and later. He published several books on his studies in Puerto Rico and Latin America.
Carlos Eugenio Chardón Palacios was born inPonce, Puerto Rico, to Carlos Felix Chardón and Isabel Palacios Pelletier. His great-grandfather, Juan Bautista Chardón, a Catholic native ofChampagne, France, immigrated toPuerto Rico fromLouisiana in 1816, encouraged by theRoyal Decree of Graces issued by the Spanish Crown, which was trying to attract new settlers to the island.[2]
Chardón received his primary and secondary education in his hometown. In 1915, he began his studies in agriculture at theCollege of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts inMayagüez. Chardón went to the United States to continue his college education atCornell University inNew York State after Mayagüez was struck by anearthquake in 1918.[3] It did considerable damage to the university and the city, damaging hundreds of masonry and wooden buildings, both commercial and residential.[citation needed]
Chardón earned his B.A. degree in 1919 and continued towards his Master's. He specialized inphytopathology andmycology, and studied diseases ofsugar cane under the supervision ofHerbert H. Whetzel.[4] Chardón earned his master's degree in 1921 and became the first Puerto Rican mycologist. He returned to Puerto Rico and began a career in the fields oftaxonomy offungi,phytopathology, and agricultural development.[3] He continued to collaborate with Whetzel as well asFrank Dunn Kern on therust andsmut fungi of Puerto Rico.[5]
Chardón worked as a phytopathologist at the Agricultural Experimental Station inRío Piedras.[4] He became the first person to describeOphionectria portoricensis in 1921.[6] In 1922 he discovered the vector of theMosaic virus of sugar cane, which was the aphidAphis maidis. His findings were published in theJournal of Phytopathology.[4]
Chardón was appointed Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor byHorace Mann Towner, the US-appointed governor.[4] As commissioner, he continued his studies of the diseases of tobacco and sugar cane. In 1926 Chardón traveled toColombia, where he reorganized the School of Agriculture ofMedellín. He also traveled toVenezuela,Bolivia and theDominican Republic to assist in their agricultural programs. In 1929 he returned to Colombia and established the Experimental Station of Palmira in Palmira, Valle del Cauca, Colombia.[3]
He resigned from his position as Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor in 1931, when he was named byTheodore Roosevelt Jr., the US-appointed governor, as Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico. As the first Puerto Rican to hold that position, Chardón was in a very prominent role.
DonPedro Albizu Campos, president of thePuerto Rican Nationalist Party, believed that Chardón was being used by the US for its own interests at the university. He thought theLiberal Party of Puerto Rico, a leading political party of the time, was allied with US interests there. On 20 October 1935, the Nationalist Party broadcast their meeting inMaunabo, at which Albizu Campos denounced Chardón, the university deans, and the Liberal Party as "traitors," saying they wanted to convert the university into an "American" propaganda institution.[7]
In reaction, on 23 October 1935, students at the university in Rio Piedras who supported Chardón began a signature drive to declare Albizu Campos as "Student Enemy Number One". A pro-Nationalist faction of students protested, denouncing Chardón and the Liberal Party in turn.[8]
The following day, 24 October, a student assembly at the university declared Albizu CamposPersona non grata (person not welcomed). Concerned about the potential for violence, Chardón requested the governor to provide armed police officers at the university because of the tensions. That day, two police officers saw what they thought was a suspicious-looking automobile and asked the driver, Ramón S. Pagán, for his license. His friend Pedro Quiñones was with him, and a confrontation developed that resulted in the deaths of Pagán and Quiñones. The local newspaperEl Mundo reported the next day that an explosion and gunfire had been heard; the students Eduardo Rodríguez Vega and José Santiago Barea also died that day. The incident became known as the "Río Piedras massacre" and caused national outrage.[8]
In 1935, Chardón was appointed byBlanton Winship, the island governor, as head of thePuerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA).Luis Muñoz Marín, a senator in the Puerto Rican legislature and member of theLiberal Party of Puerto Rico, had encouraged formation of the agency; it was also modeled on some of theNew Deal programs of the US PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt, developed by his administration to put people to work during theGreat Depression. Well received, it was known informally as "Plan Chardón".[9] It encouraged the training and development of Agriculture Technicians.
Chardón resigned from his positions in PRRA and the University of Puerto Rico because of his disagreements with theGovernment of Puerto Rico. He left Puerto Rico and helped in the agricultural and economic development of the Dominican Republic, Colombia, andIran.
After returning to Puerto Rico in 1940, he held positions as director of the Land Authority (1940), and the Tropical Agricultural Institute in Mayagüez (1942).[3]
Chardón married Dolores López Wiscovich; they had 4 children - two sons and two daughters. His second son,Carlos A. Chardón López, earned a doctorate atSyracuse University and became an educator and administrator. He served as Puerto Rico's Secretary of Education in 1977 and 2009.[10]
His younger brother,Carlos Fernando Chardón (5 September 1907 – 9 December 1981), served as thePuerto Rico Adjutant General andSecretary of State of Puerto Rico from 1969 to 1973.[11]
Chardón was in the process of publishing the fourth and fifth volumes ofLos Naturalistas en América Latina when he died on 7 March 1965, inSan Juan, Puerto Rico. He was buried at the Puerto Rico Memorial Cemetery inCarolina, Puerto Rico.
