Eusebio Leal Spengler was born on September 11, 1942, in Havana, Cuba. He was a Cuban historian, essayist, researcher, and intellectual known for his title of Historian of the City, which he held until his death in Havana on July 31, 2020.
Leal, a self-taught individual, completed the sixth grade while working in the municipal government and was taken under the wing of Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring, his predecessor as Historian of Havana, who guided him in his vocation as a historian. He pursued a degree in History at the Faculty of Philosophy and History of the University of Havana from 1974 to 1979 after preparing for the proficiency exams without having officially completed any other level of schooling.
He held the academic degrees of Doctor in Historical Sciences from the University of Havana, Master in Archaeological Sciences from the same university, and Master in Latin American, Caribbean, and Cuban Studies. Additionally, he was the City Historian and Director of the World Heritage Restoration Program.
En su larga carrera ocupó mas de 20 cargos en diferentes instituciones dentro y fuera de cuba como la Real Academia Española de la Historia, Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Academia Mexicana de la Lengua, Academia Estadounidense de las Artes y las Ciencias. Fue miembro de varías asociaciones, cátedras, profesor titular e invitado de varias universidades de Cuba y América Latina, Además fue Diputado a la Asamblea Nacional de Cuba, Presidente de Honor de la Unión Nacional de Historiadores de Cuba (UNHIC).y Presidente de la Comisión de Monumentos de la Ciudad de La Habana.
He has received over forty international awards and honors and was awarded an honorary doctorate from more than 10 universities around the world.
He wrote essays, prologues, and articles on the History of Cuba, themes related to America, restoration, and Museology, which have been published both in Cuba and abroad. He is the author of pamphlets and books, including: Regresar en el tiempo; Detén el paso caminante; Verba Volant; Fiñes; Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. El diario perdido; Aeterna Sapientia; and La luz sobre el espejo.
For the Cuban people, Leal was a beloved and admired figure for being the person responsible for restoring Old Havana and transforming a marginalized and decaying area into one of the most emblematic Historic Districts in America, as well as one of the most touristy sites in Havana. Thanks to this ambitious project that he led and directed, which involved restoring churches, fortresses, mansions, hotels, museums, residential buildings, shops, and other historical structures, the Historic Center of Havana was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982.
He was the Director of the Habaguanex S.A. Tourism Company, which oversees a vast network of hotel and non-hotel (gastronomic and commercial) facilities established on January 6, 1994, by the Office of the Historian of the City. Today, it includes over 300 establishments, including restaurants, shops, markets, cafes, and 16 hotels and hostels offering a total of 546 rooms across different categories. Ironically, on July 31, 2016, exactly four years before Eusebio's death, Habaguanex came under the control of the military empire GAESA, belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), "to achieve a more efficient function," according to General Division Leonardo Ramón Andollo Valdés, who made the new allocation official in the absence of Eusebio, who, loyal to his Havana, did not attend. This sudden change in leadership sparked considerable discussion among Cubans.
Leal starred for years in the television program "Andar La Habana," which made him popular throughout the island and in which he explored a corner of the city each day from a historical and architectural perspective.
In November 2019, despite his significant deterioration, he accompanied the King and Queen of Spain, Felipe VI and Letizia, on their tour of the historic center of Havana and was awarded by the monarch with the Grand Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Order of Charles III.
Her most recent public appearance was on June 16, 2020, to say farewell to the vedette Rosita Fornés.
