The National Restoration and Conservation Award is perhaps the most tacit proof of how much the collective of Dr. Ernesto Triolet’s French Apothecary, now the Pharmaceutical Museum, protects, cares for and saves the iconic building, which was inaugurated on January 1, 1882.
From the simplest employee to the director Marcia Brito, they defend the concept of posterity of the French Apothecary, the attraction of all those who visit the Athens of Cuba, a city that is proud to have it in the heart of the city.
And, of course, the 143rd anniversary invites a month of celebration. From today until the end of January, «we want to strengthen ties with schools, workplaces, distant and vulnerable communities,» Brito said.
She said that one of the main activities will be dedicated to Dr. María Dolores de Figueroa, the first woman pharmacist in Cuba, owner of the French Apothecary and mother of Dr. Triolet’s children.
The tribute is scheduled for the 29th, date of a new anniversary of the discussion of María Dolores’ doctoral thesis at New York University, where she declared the beneficial composition of the springs of the Purísima Concepción, in Ciego Montero, for medicinal use and human consumption, reported the website of Radio 26.
«We will also remember the great pharmacist Dr. Ernesto Triolet Figueroa, its last owner, to whom we owe the existence of this unique institution of its kind, and the person who worked here until 1979.»
The Pharmaceutical Museum, created on May 1, 1964, preserves the precious founding cup with the faces of Triolet and his first wife, and dozens of other containers, legitimate porcelain specially ordered from France, fine, classic, like the Bohemian crystal used in the production of the beautiful «pharmacist’s eyes», the gables made in the former Czechoslovakia.
Marcia Brito and her team are proud to preserve the heritage of the only complete French apothecary’s shop from the end of the 19th century in the world. She always affirms that «there are others in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Havana, but in none, everything, absolutely everything, is original as in the one in Matanzas».
