Jiménez, Antonio Núñez (sold)

Antonio Núñez Jiménez (April 20, 1923 - September 13, 1998) was a Cuban scientist, politician, and revolutionary. Born in Alquízar, Jiménez founded the Caving Society of Cuba in 1940 at the age of 17. He graduated from the University of Havana as a Doctor of Philosophy and Letters in 1951 and served as a Captain of the Rebel Army under Commander Ernesto 'Che' Guevara during the Cuban Revolution. He held several positions in the Revolutionary Government of Cuba, including Director of the National Institute of Agrarian Reform (1959 - 1962), Head of Artillery (1960 - 1962), President-Founder of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba (1962 - 1972), Cuban Ambassador to Peru (1972 - 1978), Vice Minister of Culture (1978 - 1989), Deputy of the National Assembly (1976 - 1993). He also held the position of President of the National Monuments Commission, the Caving Society of Cuba, the Cuban Geographical Society, the Nature Foundation and the Man, and the Center for the Study of Rock Art of Latin America and the Caribbean at the time of his death in 1998. He graduated f rom Lomonosov University in Moscow in 1960 with a Ph.D. in Geographical Sciences. During his lifetime, Jiménez embarked on expeditions to the North Pole (1972), Antarctica (1998), Africa, China, Easter Island, and the Galápagos Islands, among many other locations. He also organized and participated in an expedition to the Amazon in 1987 and 1988 that followed the Napo, Amazonas, Megro, and Orinoco Rivers to the Caribbean and then continued through the Antilles Sea. He was also a prolific writer, publishing over 190 books and 1665 articles over the course of his professional life.