Photos: Sergio Betancort
Francisco Hernández Delgado is now the Official Chronicler of Teguise. On the night of this Thursday, February 3, the Convent of Santo Domingo was the setting for his appointment, in an act attended by family, authorities, friends and agents related to the world of culture.
The presidential table was formed by the secretary of the Teguise city council, the Councilor for Culture, Oswaldo Betancort, the mayor Juan Pedro Hernández, the president of the Board of Official Chroniclers of the Canary Islands, Emiliano Guillen, and Francisco Hernández Delgado himself.
During the course of the act, the different spokespersons of the political parties that make up the Teguise Corporation spoke. The first to speak was José Dímas Martín, from the PIL. He was followed by Noelia Umpiérrez (PSOE), Fermín García (PP) and Oswaldo Betancort (CC). All of them made a review of Francisco Hernández Delgado, of all the contribution and involvement to culture not only in the municipality of Teguise and in Lanzarote, but also in the Canary Islands and America.
The president of the Board of Official Chroniclers of the Canary Islands, Emiliano Guillen, the official chroniclers of Haría and Arrecife, Gregorio Barreto Viñoly and Antonio Lorenzo Martín, and the mayor of Teguise, Juan Pedro Hernández, also spoke at the event.
The interventions were closed by the newly appointed Official Chronicler of Teguise, Francisco Hernández, who was surprised during his speech with several live telephone calls from Cuba, Argentina and San Antonio de Texas, countries closely linked to the Canary Islands, highlighting the cultural scope that the newly appointed Official Chronicler of La Villa has been carrying out. The new chronicler thanked for the new position but, above all, praised his family. "My family has allowed me, each day with greater resignation, to dedicate myself to history, stealing time from them."
A journey through his life
During the act, part of the life of Francisco Hernández was remembered, who has in his record being the founder of two of the most important projects of Teguise, such as the Immigrant Museum and the Historical Archive that, together with María Dolores Rodríguez, raised and, currently, are the basis of most of the research works that are carried out on Lanzarote.
To this we must add the 14 works, of which "La gran Mareta" stands out; "La cocina de Lanzarote"; "Los Buches"; or "Famine, Epidemics and Health in Lanzarote", among so many; and the half a hundred thematic publications on issues mainly of the municipality of Teguise that he has been publishing gradually.
The rescue from oblivion that he made of Los Diabletes, the impulse he gave to the Rancho de Pascua or the vitality that he still gives to one of the most relevant theater groups on the Island, Manuela and Esperanza Spínola, a group that he directs and of which he is an actor, are among so many some of the reasons why he has been appointed Official Chronicler of Teguise.
The act ended with the delivery of the accrediting diploma and the heraldic shield of the municipality, which was imposed by the mayor Juan Pedro Hernández on the lapel of his jacket. In addition, bouquets of flowers were given to the wife and daughter of the newly appointed Official Chronicler of Teguise. Later, there was a musical performance of violin and piano.
