Reina Torres de Araúz
Reina Torres de Araúz (born October 30, 1932 in Panama City , † February 26, 1982 ibid) was a Panamanian anthropologist and ethnographer .
Life
Reina Torres de Araúz graduated from a girls' high school and then attended the National Institute in Panama City. She then studied anthropology and philosophy at the Universidad de Buenos Aires , where she received her doctorate in 1963 with a dissertation on Panamanian and Colombian culture.
De Araúz specialized in the indigenous peoples of Panama. In field studies she documented the peculiarities of the tribes, their ritual acts and the culture. In 1958, Reina Torres de Araúz met the anthropologist Amado Araúz while she was researching the indigenous peoples of the Darién province . The couple married on December 30, 1959 and had three children. Soon after the wedding, they traveled with the "Trans-Darién Expedition" for almost five months through the jungle of Darién and the Colombian Department del Chocó .
She became Professor of Anthropology at the National Institute and later at the University of Panama . There she founded the Center for Anthropological Research and suggested the establishment of a national commission for archeology and monuments. The work of the commission formed the basis for the country's national treasure. It was affiliated to the National Institute of Culture, which De Araúz directed for more than ten years. During this time she was responsible for the historical heritage of Panama and advocated Law No. 14 of May 5, 1982, which regulated the protection of the national cultural property.
De Araúz was elected Vice President of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee and also worked for the UNESCO Technical Committee on Culture . In 1974 she became a full member of the Panamanian Academy of History. She was the first woman to receive this honor. In addition, she promoted the establishment of several Panamanian museums, including the Museo del Parque Arqueologico El Caño in the province of Coclé , the Museo de la Nacionalidad de la Heroica Villa de Los Santos, the Museo de Arte religioso colonial, the West Indian Museum, the Natural History Museum and the History Museum in Panama.
De Araúz repeatedly denounced the illegal excavations at archaeological sites of indigenous cultures. She wrote to several American museums and requested the return of archaeological finds to Panama. Two years after the signing of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties ordered the US governor of the Panama Canal Zone , Harold Parfitt , that the locomotive 299 as part of the first transcontinental railroad ( Panama Canal Railway ) to the Industrial Museum in Paterson (New Jersey) go should. The locomotive had previously been declared part of Panama's national heritage in the Torrijos-Carter treaties and the donation had been rejected the previous year. De Araúz was so angry about the shipment that she wrote a letter accusing the Panama Canal Zone authorities of a “horrific violation” of all the rules governing the protection of cultural property.
In the early 1980s, her eldest son, Oscar, died of cancer . Shortly thereafter, De Araúz was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died on February 26, 1982 at the age of 49. Until the end she worked and selected exhibits for the museum of Chitre. She also wrote the book The New Edinburgh Darien , which she did not live to see published .
Honors
The Anthropological Museum in Panama City is named after Reina Torres de Araúz.
Fonts (selection)
- Los Indios Cuna de Tierra Firme . Panama 1960
- Estudio etnológico e histórico de la cultura chocó . Centro de Investigaciones Antropológicos de la Universidad de Panamá, Panama 1966
- with Otilia Arosemena de Tejeira: La mujer en la vida panameña . Impreso en la Editorial de la Universidad de Panamá, Panama 1966
- Demographic characteristics of human groups inhabiting the eastern region of the Republic of Panama . Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus 1968
- La balsería deporte indígena . Instituto Nacional de Cultura y Deportes, Panama 1972
- Natá prehispánico . Centro de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Universidad de Panamá, Panama 1972
- Arte precolombino de Panamá, Institute Nacional de Cultura, Panama 1972
- Etnohistoria Cuna: tesis presentada para la investidura formal como Académica de la Historia (miembro de número) . Instituto Nacional de Cultura, Panama 1974
- Darién: etnoecología de una región histórica . Instituto Nacional de Cultura, Panama 1975
- with Marcia A de Arosemena; J Conte Porras: Antologia de la ciudad de Panama . Inac, Panama 1977
- with Laura Laurencich Minelli: Arte precolombiana: Costa Rica, Panama . Istituto italo-latino americano, Rome 1977
- Historia del arte panameño . Instituto Nacional de Cultura, Panama 1979
Web links
- Collection of obituaries in the Biblioteca Nacional de Panamá (Spanish)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Daniel Domínguez Z .: Reina Torres: estudio y coraje . La Prensa, March 17, 2000
- ↑ a b c Amalia Aguilar Nicolau: Reina Torres de Araúz: una mujer de su tiempo . Revista Ellas, La Prensa, July 11, 2003
- ^ Alfredo Figueroa Navarro: Reina Torres de Araúz . La Estrella de Panamá, March 10, 1982
- ↑ Omar Suárez Jaén: Reina Torres de Araúz: una panameña copy . La Estrella de Panamá, March 13, 1982
- ↑ Marcela Camargo Ríos: Reina Torres de Araúz en mi recuerdo . Revista Ellas, La Prensa
- ↑ a b Agustín del Rosario: En el principio y al final se trata de Reina Torres de Araúz , Panamá América, March 4, 2001
- ↑ La recibe la Academia de Historia . La Estrella de Panamá, June 20, 1974
- ^ Protesta patrimonio histórico por la remoción de la locomotora 299 . El Matutino, February 23, 1979
- ↑ Museo MARTA , website of the Instituto Nacional de Cultura, accessed on February 10, 2017
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Araúz, Reina Torres de |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Panamanian anthropologist and ethnographer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 30, 1932 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Panama City |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 26, 1982 |
| Place of death | Panama City |