HAVANA, Cuba.- Eusebio Leal, Historian of Havana, received the Cuban National Heritage Award for a Lifetime Work in its first edition.

Alejandro Garcia Alvarez, president of the jury that unanimously awarded this prestigious recognition in a ceremony held at the Museum of the City, said that the winner since his youth had taken on the legacy of his mentor, Emilio Roig Leuchsenring, legendary memory preserver of Havana city.

Garcia Alvarez added that Leal ever since has made an extraordinary contribution to the restoration and dissemination of Cuban cultural heritage especially in the capital, and particularly in the revaluation of military and vernacular architecture.

Garcia praised especially the social aspect of Leal´s work, to which he actively incorporates the population, making emphasis on improving its quality of life and the rescue of the most genuine traditions.

The jury decided it would be unfair to Leal not to receive this prize due to his career puts him on a level of uniqueness and comprehensiveness, acknowledged by numerous universities worldwide which have granted him nearly a hundred awards.

Leal said that if he has done something, it was for Cuba, from which he received all the favors that allowed him to contribute to this great work, pure and natural, and also to the leaders who helped him with passion and strength.

He noted this is an effort of many people, most of them anonymous, but mainly of his collaborators who were at the ceremony, who have devoted the best part of their lives to this collective effort.