Agustín Stahl

{{Short description|Puerto Rican medical doctor, and scientist (1842–1917)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Agustín Stahl Stamm

| image = Agustin stahl.jpg

| imagesize = 150px

| caption =

| birth_name = Agustín Stahl Stamm

| birth_date = January 21, 1842

| birth_place = Aguadilla, Puerto Rico

| death_date = July 12, 1917

| death_place = Bayamón, Puerto Rico

| alma_mater = Charles University in Prague (MD)

| nationality = Puerto Rican

| occupation = Medical doctor, scientist

| footnotes = Dr. Stahl has a genus, Stahlia, and five valid species, Argythamnia stahlii, Senna pendula var. stahlii , Eugenia stahlii, Lyonia stahlii, and Ternstroemia stahlii, named in his honor.

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Agustín Stahl (January 21, 1842 – July 12, 1917) was a Puerto Rican medical doctor and scientist with diverse interests in the fields of ethnology, botany, and zoology. He advocated Puerto Rico's independence from Spain.

Early years

Stahl was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico and given the name Antón Adolf August, by his parents Johann Heinrich Christian Stahl and María Helene Stamm. Born into a Protestant family, he was baptized into the Catholic faith in Aguadilla at about three years of age,Temas y temitas, by Haydée Reichard de Cancio, pgs. 43-44. town where he also received his primary and secondary education.

He studied at the universities of Würzburg in Germany and at the Charles University in Prague, graduating from the latter with the title of Doctor of Medicine in 1864. After graduation, Stahl returned to Puerto Rico where he established his medical practice in the city of Bayamón.

Ethnologist, botanist and zoologist

Image:Stahlimage.jpg

Outside work, Stahl's love of nature lead him to conduct investigations and experiments in the fields of ethnology, botany and zoology. He also had a love of history and historical investigation.

Stahl wrote "Estudios sobre la flora de Puerto Rico" (A study of the Puerto Rican Flora), published in 6 fascicles from 1883 to 1888. Copies of Stahl's plant collection with approximately 1,330 plants can be found in various botanical gardens around the world. His collections were the basis for numerous studies by specialists, some of them resulting in new taxa to science.[http://botany.si.edu/Antilles/PRFlora/stahl/ Botanical Legacy of Dr. Agustín Stahl] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917085320/http://botany.si.edu/Antilles/PRFlora/stahl/ |date=2011-09-17 }}, Retrieved October 17, 2008{{cite web | last=Knight | first=Judith | title=Restoring the Forgotten Botanical Legacy of Agustin Stahl | website=The Plant Press | url=https://nmnh.typepad.com/the_plant_press/2015/10/restoring-the-forgotten-botanical-legacy-of-agustin-stahl.html | access-date=November 17, 2023}}

Stahl has a genus, Stahlia, and five valid species, Argythamnia stahlii, Senna pendula var. stahlii , Eugenia stahlii, Lyonia stahlii, and Ternstroemia stahlii, named in his honor.{{cite web|url=http://ravenel.si.edu/botany/PRFlora/Stahl/index.cfm |title=Flora of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands |access-date=2006-09-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901071918/http://ravenel.si.edu/botany/PRFlora/Stahl/index.cfm |archive-date=2006-09-01 |url-status=dead }} The genus Stahlia is represented by a single species, S. monosperma (Tul.) Urb., known to occur only in Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic. Known in Puerto Rico as Cóbana Negra, this species is currently listed as threatened in the USFW Federal Register, April 5, 1990.{{cite web | title=Agustín Stahl | website=Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History | date=April 5, 1990 | url=https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/botany/research/flora-puerto-rico-and-virgin-islands/agustin-stahl | access-date=November 17, 2023}} He was quoted as saying:

{{Quote box

|quote = {{center| "I love science. We wouldn't be where we are without science"}}

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Written works

file:Estudios-sobre-la-flora-de-Puerto-Rico- - 6.jpg

Stahl's written works include:

Notes on Puerto Rico's Flora
Report on the Disease of the Sugar Cane
Puerto Rican Flora
The Puerto Rican Indians (Tainos)
The Founding of Aguadilla
The Founding of Bayamón

Later years

The custom of adorning Christmas trees in Puerto Rico began in the city of Bayamón in 1866 when Stahl adorned a tree in his back yard. The people of Bayamón baptized his tree "El árbol de Navidad del Doctor Stahl" (Dr. Stahl's Christmas tree).[http://www.preb.com/navidad/arbolnav.htm El Primer Arbol de Navidad de Puerto Rico]{{cite web | last=Anderson | first=Maria | title=Smithsonian Insider – Agustín Stahl: Scientist Who Introduced the “Arbol de Navidad” (Christmas Tree) to Puerto Rico | website=Smithsonian Insider | date=December 23, 2015 | url=https://insider.si.edu/2015/12/agustin-stahl-scientist-who-introduced-the-arbol-de-navidad-christmas-tree-to-puerto-rico/ | access-date=November 17, 2023}}

Stahl was a firm believer that Puerto Rico should obtain independence from Spain, and was a member of the "Partido Autonomista Puertorriqueño", or Puerto Rican Autonomist Party. This group sought to create a separate political and legal identity for Puerto Rico while emulating Spain in all political matters. However, due to Stahl's political views, he was expelled from his position in the Civil Institute of Natural Sciences in Spain and was deported from Spain in 1898.Chardon, C. E. 1924. {{lang|es|Haciendo Patria. Homenaje al Dr. Agustín Stahl. Revista de agricultura de Puerto Rico.}} 12(11): 65-84.

File:Residencial Público Agustín Stahl en Borinquen, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.jpg of Borinquen barrio in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico is named after Agustín Stahl.]]

Stahl died in the city of Bayamón and his remains are buried in Bayamón's Cementerio Municipal Braulio Dueño Colón. The city of Bayamón turned his former house into a museum to be enjoyed by all those who wish to learn more about him and his work. The Puerto Rican sculptor Tomás Batista created a bust to honor Stahl which can be found at the University of Cayey.

References

External links

[https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/search/botany/?q=cn+stahl+watercolor+botanical+art watercolor botanical art by Agustín Stahl on the Smithsonian website]
[http://www.agustinstahl.com/ "Agustin Stahl, The Virtual Museum of Natural History of Puerto Rico", Website]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20151106203409/http://botany.si.edu/Antilles/PRFlora/Stahl/index.cfm P. Acevedo-Rodrguez, "The Botanical Legacy of Agustín Stahl", National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (English)]; also [http://botany.si.edu/Antilles/PRFlora/Stahl/indexspan.cfm Spanish] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414063339/http://botany.si.edu/Antilles/PRFlora/Stahl/indexspan.cfm |date=2009-04-14 }}.

Category:1842 births

Category:1917 deaths

Category:19th-century Puerto Rican physicians

Category:People from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico

Category:Puerto Rican people of German descent

Category:Puerto Rican botanists

Category:Botanists with author abbreviations

Category:Puerto Rican nationalists

Category:19th-century zoologists

Category:Botanists active in the Caribbean

Category:Puerto Rican independence activists

Category:20th-century American zoologists