Antonio Pineda
Antonio Pineda | |
---|---|
Born | Guatemala City, New Spain. | January 17, 1751
Died | June 23, 1792 | (aged 41)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Bartolom%C3%A9_V%C3%A1zquez-Mausoleo_del_coronel_Don_Antonio_de_Pineda.jpg/320px-Bartolom%C3%A9_V%C3%A1zquez-Mausoleo_del_coronel_Don_Antonio_de_Pineda.jpg)
Antonio Pineda (January 17, 1751 – June 23, 1792) was a Spanish
Biography
Pineda was born on January 17, 1751, in
In 1778 Pineda was promoted to Second Lieutenant of the Rifle Corps. He fought in Gibraltar against the British in 1780 and again two years later. He also fought in the Americas while serving aboard the La Pastora. Upon his return to Spain, Pineda was promoted to first lieutenant in the Marine Guards. Afterwards, Pineda left the military to pursue his interests in botany, zoology, and the physical sciences. He traveled widely to undertake field studies in natural history and he associated with prominent Spanish scientists such as botanist
In 1788 the Spanish government approved plans for an elaborate scientific voyage to survey Spain's overseas dominions. The
They stopped first in Montevideo on July 30, 1789 and then circled South America with stops in Patagonia, Chile, Peru, Panama, and Nicaragua. At each port Pineda and his team spent several days or weeks collecting natural history specimens in the surrounding region. Née and Haenke focused on plants while Pineda often spent his time catching or trapping animals. In addition to collecting, Malaspina recalled an incident when Née and Pineda tested a local species of Solanum on themselves resulting in severe vomiting and overall pain and swelling.[3]
When the expedition reached Acapulco on March 27, 1791, Pineda and Née settled down for an extended period of studying and collecting in the interior of Mexico while the expedition proceeded along the coast of North America to Alaska. During the next six months they collected almost 3,000 plants and a large number of other specimens while travelling over 1,500 miles throughout Mexico. Malaspina returned to Acapulco in December 1791 to pick them up and then headed west across the Pacific to Asia. Six weeks later they made a brief stop at Guam where Pineda and his team explored the island and added to their collections. Pineda's observations were later published in The Guam Diary of Naturalist Antonio de Pineda y Ramirez, February 1792.[3]
They finally reached Manila on March 10, 1792. When the naturalists decided to separately explore different parts of the region, Pineda first traveled with another Spanish botanist,
The death of Pineda was deeply felt by the members of the expedition. One of the Italian artists on the staff designed a large memorial which was later erected at the botanic gardens in Malate. The inscription on the monument read:[1]
"To Antonio Pineda, army officer, a man distinguished for patriotism and warlike valour and an untiring student of nature. In ardous journey of three years he travelled to the ends of the world, exploring the bowels of the earth, the depths of the sea and the topmost peaks of the Andes. He reached the end of his life and of his heavy labours in Luzon in the Philippine Islands on July 6, 1792. The early death of this noble man is mourned by country, by the Fauna and by the friends who have erected the monument."
The flowering plant genus Pineda (Salicaceae) is named in his honor.[4]
Notes
References
- Cook, Warren L. (1973). Flood Tide of Empire: Spain and the Pacific Northwest, 1543-1819. Yale University Press.
- Madulid, Domingo A. (1982). "The Life and Work of Antonio Pineda, Naturalist of the Malaspina Expedition". Archives of Natural History. 11 (1): 49–53. .
- Madulid, Domingo A. (1989). "The life and work of Luis Nee, botanist of the Malaspina expedition". Archives of Natural History. 16 (1): 33–48. PMID 11622207.
Further reading
- Driver, Marjorie G., ed. (1990). The Guam Diary of Naturalist Antonio de Pineda y Ramirez, February 1792. Micronesian Area Research Center. ISBN 978-1878453013.
- Madulid, Domingo A. (1987). "The Philippines in the Year 1792 as Portrayed by the Malaspina Expedition Artists". Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society. 15 (3): 219–254. JSTOR 29791924.