He is a true gentleman and a dedicated scholar who has contributed so much to the study of art history. architecture and colonial art in Latin America. Dr. de Montequin was born in Santa Clara. Cuba. of French and Spanish origins. At age 12. on January 4. 1961. he left Cuba for Miami. He left his parents. siblings. and all that he knew behind. for a new life in the United States. He lived in the Kendall Refugee Camp and later was sent to an orphanage in Pennsylvania. He later returned to Florida. and was eventually moved to a home for exiled Cuban children in Albuquerque. NM.