Eduardo Neumann Gandía, was one of Puerto Rico's most accomplished historians. He is particularly well known for his nineteenth century book Verdadera y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce: desde sus primitivos tiempos hasta la época contemporánea. His father was Guillermo Neumann, who was mayor of Ponce from 23 April 1851 to 30 September 1851. Eduardo Neumann Gandía's most important work was Benefactores y Hombres Notables de Puerto Rico.. Neumann wrote profusely during a period of 30 years, producing some 20 major works plus numerous articles in newspapers and periodicals.
Biography
Neumann Gandia was born in Ponce. His father was Guillermo Neumann, mayor of Ponce in 1851. His mother was Josefa Gandia, a devout Catholic in the city of Ponce. Neumann Gandia was known for his autonomic leanings. Reflecting, in 1913, upon the liberties Spain had given Puerto Rico almost 200 years before the U.S. invasion of the Island, he pointed out that Spain had allowed native-born Puerto RicanRamon Power to serve as a member of Spain's "Junta Suprema del Gobierno Nacional" as well as vice-president at the Cortes of Cádiz. Analyzing the freedoms granted by Spain to Puerto Rico he wrote,
Career
Neumann Gandía distinguished himself as an essayist and teacher, as well as an accomplished historian and prolific writer. The best known of his books is his 1913 Verdadera y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce, desde sus primitivos tiempos hasta la época contemporánea, a comprehensive and detailed history of the City of Ponce covering over 250 years, from 1646 to 1911. Neumman was also a prolific art collector. He had particularly keen interest in Taino and Antillean pottery in Puerto Rico. Part of his "Bird-Effigy" bowl collection was acquired by Jesse Walter Fewkes in 1919.
Elementos de Sintaxis, Análisis Lógico y Ejercicios de Composición. 1881.
Nociones de Aritmética. 1884.
Importancia social del Maestro y estado de Instrucción en Puerto Rico. 1889.
Las Escuelas de Adultos: Su Organización y Metodología. 1890.
Reforma de la Segunda Enseñanza. 1890.
Estudio Histórico Sobre el Asedio de los Ingleses a la Capital en 1797. ca. 1893.
Benefactores y hombres notables de Puerto-Rico: bocetos biográficos-críticos con un estudio sobre nuestros gobernadores generales. Obra exornada profusamente con hermosos fotograbados. Volume I. 1899. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Establecimiento Tipográfico "La Libertad". 1896.
Benefactores y hombres notables de Puerto-Rico: bocetos biográficos-críticos. Obra exornada profusamente con hermosos fotograbados. Volume II. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta del "Listín Comercial". 1899.
Impresiones de viaje por Norte America. Eduardo Neumann Gandía. 1910.
Verdadera y Auténtica historia de la Ciudad de Ponce desde sus primitivos tiempos hasta la época contemporánea: Resultado de prolijas investigaciones, libres de errores, fecha irrefutable de su fundación hallada por el autor, datos nuevos apoyados en documentos inéditos, efemérides originales, noticias cronológicas, mapas antiguos y modernos, infinitos fotograbados y retratos de personajes. Reprinted by Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1987.
