Agustín de Betancourt
Agustín de Betancourt | |
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inventor | |
Engineering career | |
Significant design | Moscow Manege, Nizhny Novgorod Fair |
Agustín de Betancourt y Molina (Russian: Августин Августинович де Бетанкур,
Childhood and education
De Betancourt was born in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain. The Tenerife Betancourt family can trace their roots to Jean de Béthencourt, who launched colonization of the Canary Islands in 1402 and became a self-proclaimed King of Tenerife in 1417 under the overlordship of the King of Castile. Augustín's father, also Augustín de Betancourt y Castro, was a well-educated businessman with interests in textile machinery. His sister, Maria del Carmen Betancourt y Molina, was the first known woman in Tenerife to publish a scientific article (also related to textile dyes).[2][3][4]
In 1778, Augustin moved to Madrid to study engineering at the San Isidro Royal College, and never returned to Tenerife again. His first jobs, after graduation in 1783, were related to the Aragon Canal and mining in Almadén. In 1784, he travelled to Paris to study hydraulics and mechanics at the School of Bridges and Roads.
Career in Spain and France
Intelligence missions
In France, Betancourt published treatises on engineering (e.g. on coal mining), but his real assignment was to scout new technologies for the benefit of Spain and to acquire modern machinery for the future Cabinet of Machinery in Madrid, envisioned by
In 1792, Betancourt was appointed the Director of the Royal Cabinet of Machinery, and catalogued hundreds of its exhibits scouted in France, England and the Netherlands. In 1793–1795, he continued intelligence in England. This assignment was interrupted by Spain's alliance with revolutionary France (1796). In Paris, Betancourt teamed up with Abraham-Louis Breguet in perfecting their version of the optical telegraph. Later however, the French chose a competing design by Claude Chappe. Betancourt built his telegraph in Spain, between Madrid and Cádiz in 1798. In 1783 he was involved in launching Spain's first hot-air balloon (the scene can be seen in a picture by A. Carnicero in the Prado national museum).
Administrative career
In 1797, Betancourt's achievements were rewarded with the positions of Chief Inspector of Ports and Communications in Spain, Chief of the Corps of Engineers of the Spanish military, and other important assignments. In 1802, he founded Spain's first civil engineering college, the School of the Corps of Engineers, and managed the institution until 1807.
Soon after the establishment in 1794 of the
In 1807, Betancourt left Spain for Paris, where he was inducted into the French Academy of Sciences; ironically, James Watt was inducted simultaneously. Betancourt was recruited into Russian service by Ivan Muravyov-Apostol (Ambassador to Spain until 1806) and left France for Saint Petersburg in 1808.
Career in Russia
Betancourt joined Russian service in the rank of
Structural engineering
In 1811–1813, Betancourt built Saint Petersburg's first bridge across
In 1816, Alexander I of Russia assigned Betancourt to find an architect for rebuilding Saint Isaac's Cathedral. Betancourt promoted Montferrand and, in February 1818, the Tsar approved Montferrand's fifth draft. Betancourt provided Montferrand with an efficient, thoroughly calculated dome design utilizing three interconnected steel domes without any masonry vaults. Cathedral construction was delayed until Betancourt's death; the dome was erected only in 1841.
In Moscow, Betancourt supervised construction of the
Urban planning
In 1816, accidental fire destroyed the
Betancourt designed other buildings for Nizhny, including the city jail, three brick foundries, and helped in preservation of two ancient churches. Throughout the 19th century, the left bank of
Russia's first steamship, Yelizaveta was designed jointly by Charles Baird and Betancourt (1815).
In 1810, Betancourt completed his steam-powered
Currency printshop
After the
Other projects
Betancourt is credited with design of Russia's first modern highway between Saint Petersburg and Moscow, as well as numerous industrial projects like
In 1809, Betancourt set up Saint Petersburg Institute of Communications Engineers, the nations' first engineering college, and headed the Institute until 1824.
Final years
In 1822, Betancourt fell into disfavor at the court, and lost his chair as the Director of Communications, but retained other state jobs. In 1823 he was struck by the death of his only daughter and never recovered from this loss. In February 1824 he finally resigned, and died on 14 July 1824 in
Saint Petersburg has three monuments to Betancourt: in University Embankment, in Communications University and inside the Goznak currency printshop. Betancourt's Medal is an annual award instituted in 1997 by Russian Railways for excellence in science and education.
Notes
- ISBN 978-0-684-10114-9.
- ^ Perdomo, I. (2007). Elías, C. (ed.). María de Bethencourt. Ciencia e ingeniería en la ilustración canaria (in Spanish). Canary Islands: Office of Science, Technology and Innovation.
- ISBN 9788493587567.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ISBN 84-7790-239-9.
- ISBN 978-90-481-2346-9
References
- Russian bio: Ренкель, А., "Бетанкур — россиянин с острова Тенерифе", "Изобретатель и рационализатор" N.12(684), 2006 [1]
- Russian bio, focusing on currency printing: Воробьева, Ольга, "Он научил Россию печатать деньги", "Водяной знак", N.7-8(15-16), 2004 [2]
External links
- Betancourt Project (monographic website about Agustín de Betancourt, in Spanish, English and Russian) [3]
- The German "Digitale Mechanismen- und Getriebebibliothek" provides information about Betancourt and has digitized:
- Essai sur la composition des machines (2nd ed. 1819) metadata, fulltext viewer
- Versuch über die Zusammensetzung der Maschinen (1829) metadata, fulltext viewer