José Antonio Price

José Antonio Price (1890–1951) was a prominent Afro-Panamanian physician and Liberal politician who graduated from University of West Tennessee College of Medicine and Surgery in 1913.[1] Dr. Price is regarded as the first black Panamanian to hold a medical degree in early republican Panama.[2]

Early life

José Antonio Price was born in Santa Ana, Panama City, former Republic of Colombia in 1890 and was the only son of Hilda Price, an immigrant from British Honduras. He moved very early on his life to the western part of the Isthmus, to the Caribbean location of Bocas del Toro where he spent the majority of his life and career.[3] At the beginning of the 20th century, Bocas del Toro was a prominent international port, home to the first international headquarter of the United Fruit Company. The Banana Industry prompted a massive wave of Afro-Caribbean immigration from places such as Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Martinique. Due to its vibrant economy, Bocas del Toro also welcomed Germans, French, American, British and Chinese merchants, giving birth to a multicultural society.

Education

Price attended high school in Kingston, Jamaica[3] before traveling to the south of the United States, where he became an alumnus of two Historically Black Colleges, Shaw University at Raleigh, North Carolina where he attended special courses from 1907-1909[4] and University of West Tennessee College of Medicine and Surgery in Memphis, where he obtained his medical degree in 1913 under the guidance of professor Miles Vandahurst Lynk.[1]

Price spoke fluent Spanish, English and French.[5]

Professional career

Jose Antonio Price became a pioneer of private medicine in the Republic of Panama. Upon his return to Bocas del Toro in 1913, he started a private practice in his own medical facility called ´Hospital Santa Fe´,[6] located at Four Street and Central Avenue.[2] He also established a drugstore “Farmacia Central” which was the largest in town.[3] These health facilities were instrumental on coping with a large demand of medical services by a very diverse population reaching almost 23,000.

In the early nineteen twenties president Belisario Porras started a nationalization campaign of Panama's public health which was largely in hands of the Americans since 1904. During this period Jose Antonio Price served as Official Doctor of the indigenous region of Chiriquí Occidente[7] and Official Doctor of the province of Darien.[8] Dr. Price also held multiple government appointments in Bocas del Toro such as Sanitary Doctor and Forensic Doctor.[9] There is evidence that Dr. Price also provided free medical services to the poor over an entire career that spanned for almost forty years.[10]

Political career

Jose Antonio Price was a Liberal radical and a close political ally to Carlos Antonio Mendoza, Belisario Porras, Francisco Arias Paredes and Ernesto de la Guardia.[2] He served as an elected member of the Municipal Council of Bocas del Toro,[2][3] representing different factions of the Liberal party such as Partido Liberal, Partido Liberal Renovador and Partido Liberal Unido.

Personal life

Price married Liliane Maud Georget Smith, of French descent in 1915, a daughter of Louis Victor Georget, former Superintendent of the United Fruit Co.,[11] who died in 1908. He remarried in 1941 to Maria America Vernaza Boyes a Granddaughter of General Heliodoro Vernaza[12] who fought next to Victoriano Lorenzo in the Thousand Days' War . Together they had three children Juan Antonio, Jose Antonio and Desiree Antonia. Price died of cancer on Colón Island, Bocas del Toro in 1951.

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References
  1. Savitt, Todd. Race And Medicine in Nineteenth-and Early-Twentieth-Century America (1st ed.). The Kent State University Press. p. 346. ISBN 9780873388788.
  2. La Estrella, Redacción (26 May 2013). "Un Naufrago de la Historia". La Estrella de Panamá. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  3. Scoullar, William T. (1916). The Blue Book of Panama. Biblioteca Nacional de Panama. p. 348.
  4. "Shaw Catalogs 1907-1910". Google Docs.
  5. "Kingston Gleaner Newspaper Archives, Apr 15, 1915, p. 40| NewspaperArchive®". NewspaperArchive.com. 15 April 1915.
  6. "Kingston Gleaner Newspaper Archives, Feb 24, 1914, p. 7| NewspaperArchive®". NewspaperArchive.com. 24 February 1914.
  7. "Decreto 64 del 24 de Noviembre de 1923 de la República de Panamá" (PDF). Procuraduría de la Administración.
  8. "Decreto 2 del 30 de Enero de 1924 de la República de Panamá" (PDF). Archivo Procuraduría General de la Administración.
  9. Pérez, Diseño, HTML y Applets: Julieta de Lourdes Romero, Perl, CGI y JavaScript: Raúl. "CRITICA EN LINEA-EPASA: Sección Sucesos". portal.critica.com.pa.
  10. Biblioteca Nacional (17 November 1934). "Servicios Medicos Gratuitos". The Citizen/El Ciudadano. 92 (2): 2.
  11. Blaney, Henry R. GOLDEN CARIBBEAN A WINTER VISI. WENTWORTH Press. p. 37. ISBN 9781362527916.
  12. Mendoza, Juan Jose Quirós. Mis memorias sobre el General Victoriano Lorenzo, 1900-1902 (in Spanish). Editora Educativa del Ministerio de Educación. p. 87.
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