Francisco Moreno
Francisco Moreno | |
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| (1909) |
Francisco Pascasio Moreno (May 31, 1852 – November 22, 1919) was a prominent explorer and academic in Argentina, where he is usually referred to as Perito Moreno (perito means "specialist, expert"). Perito Moreno has been credited as one of the most influential figures in the Argentine incorporation of large parts of Patagonia and its subsequent development.
Life and work
Moreno was born to Francisco and Juana Thwaites Madero in Buenos Aires. Raised in a traditional patrician family, he studied in local parochial schools. He shared his spare time with his father searching for artifacts and fossils and, at age 14, created a homemade museum of his extensive collections.
Following graduation in 1872, he participated in the founding of the Argentine Scientific Society. He embarked on the first of the series of scientific expeditions that made him well known: a survey of
In 1880, Moreno went to France, where he spoke at a meeting of the Anthropology Society of Paris, discussing two prehistoric skulls he had unearthed in Río Negro territory. He believed one was from the Quaternary period, and the other had ritual deformation in a manner similar to the skulls of the Aymara people of the Andes and Altiplano.
After his return to Argentina, that year he embarked on his second major expedition to the territory of Patagonia. He was taken prisoner by a Tehuelche aboriginal tribe and condemned to death.[2] He escaped on March 11, one day before the appointed execution. During this period he met the Tehuelche chief, Inacayal, who was hospitable to him. Later Inacayal led a resistance to the government, not surrendering until 1884.
In 1882–1883 Moreno explored the Andes from
He is also known for his role in defending Argentine interests. He made defining surveys that led to the
Museum director and perito
In 1888, he founded the La Plata Museum of Natural History, the most important of its kind in South America. The scholar Jens Andermann has studied how Moreno's collection of artifacts at these two museums helped establish Argentine history, and the government's claim to its territory.[3] Through these scientific and cultural collections, Moreno contributed to the national mythology.[4] He brought artifacts and materials in from remote regions to be examined, catalogued and studies at the museum in the capital. Andermann has written that such museums of natural history and anthropology "enabled and justified state control of both the natural resources and indigenous populations of Argentina."[3] They also helped develop the national narratives being shaped. Moreno served as the first Director of Museo de la Plata, guiding it until 1906.
As director of La Plata Museum of Natural History, Moreno sacked Florentino Ameghino in 1888, even denying him entry to the museum.[5]
In 1902 Moreno was appointed Perito (a technical specialist or expert), in which capacity he disproved Chilean claims to the
In 1903, Moreno donated some of the land previously given to him in order to establish the Nahuel Huapi National Park. In a letter dated 3 November 1903 to the Minister of Agriculture Wenceslao Escalante, Moreno justified his donation, among other things, by comparing it with the establishment of national parks in the USA.[6] He was appointed assistant director of the National Education Council in 1911 and helped secure funding for the Bernasconi Institute, a landmark primary school built in Buenos Aires. It was constructed on land Moreno sold to Swiss Argentine industrialist Félix Bernasconi. Its archaeological and natural history museums were created in part with his extensive collections of artifacts.
He established the Scouting and Guiding in Argentina, the Argentine Boy Scouts Association in 1912, and joined former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt in a tour of Patagonia. He continued to oversee the La Plata Museum well after his official retirement.
In later years Moreno responded to political developments in South America at the time of
A species of Argentinian lizard, Liolaemus morenoi, is named in his honor.[7]
Tributes
On 31 May 2012, Google celebrated Francisco Pascasio Moreno's 160th Birthday with a doodle.[8][9]
Gallery
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References
- ISBN 987-96054-7-0. (in Spanish).
- ^ a b Moreno, Francisco (1880). "Two Prehistoric Skulls Brought Back from the Rio Negro". Retrieved 5 May 2012.
- ^ a b Adrienne Fast, Review: The Optic of the State: Visuality and Power in Argentina and Brazil by Jens Andermann" Archived 2015-10-14 at the Wayback Machine, WRECK, Volume 2, number 1 (2008), accessed 14 October 2013
- ^ Kaitlin McNally-Murphy, "Review: The Optic of the State: Visuality and Power in Argentina and Brazil by Jens Andermann" Archived 2018-12-14 at the Wayback Machine, e-mispherica 7.1, Hemispheric Institute, accessed 14 October 2013
- ^ Fernicola, Juan Carlos (2011). "Implicancias del conflicto Ameghino-Moreno sobre la colección de mamíferos fósiles realizada por Carlos Ameghino en su primera exploración al río Santa Cruz, Argentina ". Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales. 13 (1). Retrieved 16 January 2016. (in Spanish).
- ^ Kaltmeier, Olaf (2021). National Parks from North to South. An Entangled History of Conservation and Colonization in Argentina. Trier, New Orleans: WVT, UNO. p. 14-17.
- ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Moreno, F. J. P.", p. 183).
- ^ Desk, OV Digital (2023-05-30). "31 May: Remembering Francisco Pascasio Moreno on Birthday". Observer Voice. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
- ^ "Francisco Pascasio Moreno's 160th Birthday". www.google.com. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
External links
- Works by Francisco Pascasio Moreno at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Francisco Moreno at Internet Archive
- Biography (in Spanish)
- Biography (in Spanish)
- His statue Archived 2012-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
- [1] Zoologica Göttingen State and University Library Digitised Viaje á la Patagonia austral emprendido bajo los auspicios del gobierno nacional 1876-1877
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