Félix Varela y Morales, known as Father Varela, was a Cuban educator, philosopher, and politician, and one of those men who leave an indelible mark on time. Despite dying 173 years ago on February 25, 1853, his teachings have been passed down from generation to generation through his disciples.
Varela trained the finest men of his time in the classrooms of the San Carlos Seminary. The fruits of his labor as a teacher are evident in patriots such as José Antonio Saco, Domingo del Monte, and José de la Luz y Caballero. Rafael María de Mendive, José Martí's teacher, was also an heir to the teachings of these men and, in turn, a student at the Seminary.
Father Varela taught using the most advanced pedagogical methods and was the first to teach Cubans to think about patriotism. His disciple José de la Luz y Caballero affirmed this when he said: "As long as we think of the Island of Cuba, we will think of the one who first taught us to think."
He mastered Latin as his native language, revolutionized the teaching of the time by using Spanish in his classes and books, in which he abandoned the prevailing scholasticism in favor of elective philosophy, introduced experimentation into the study of science, and placed great importance on his students learning to reason for themselves.
He was the pioneer of experimental physics teaching in Cuba, a fervent advocate of experimentation in teaching, and is recognized as the first author of a physics textbook in Cuba. He believed that learning should follow a deductive path, gradually progressing to induction, that is, from the general to the specific.
Born in Havana on November 20, 1788, to a Spanish father and a mother from Santiago de Cuba, Varela studied philosophy and theology at the Seminary of San Carlos and San Ambrosio and at the University of Havana. As a priest, he held the chair of philosophy at the former institution in 1811.
Elected deputy to the Cortes of Cádiz in 1821 representing Cuba, he defended the right to autonomy of the American territories, proposed the abolition of slavery on the island, and advocated for the modernization of education.
Father Varela was a contemporary of Simón Bolívar and never made critical or degrading judgments about the Liberator; on the contrary, he argued in the Cortes for the recognition of the sovereignty of the peoples Bolívar had emancipated, which highlights his ideas on Latin American independence.
Spain's return to absolute monarchy condemned him to death for his ideas, forcing him to flee Spain. On December 17, 1822, he arrived in the United States, where he was compelled to live the rest of his life, first in Philadelphia and later in New York.
From there, he dedicated himself to fostering Cuban independence. He published the pro-independence newspaper El Habanero, which was smuggled into Cuba, and co-edited El Mensajero Semanal (1821-1831) with José Antonio Saco, a publication intended to educate and prepare the population for future struggles. Varela wrote: “I am the first to oppose the union of the Island with any government, and I would like to see it as much an island in politics as it is in nature.”
Having suffered in the United States since 1846, he traveled three times in search of a better climate to Florida, where he died on February 25, 1853. After the establishment of the Republic in Cuba, his remains were transferred to Havana, and are placed in the Aula Magna of the University of Havana, where he is honored.