Félix de Azara y Perera (18 May 1742 – 20 October 1821) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

military officer,

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

, and engineer.

Life

Félix de Azara y Perera was born on 18 May 1746 in Barbuñales,

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

. He joined the army and attended a Spanish military academy. He was commissioned as an engineer, distinguishing himself on various expeditions. He spent the next thirteen years of his life in the military and rose to the rank of brigadier general in the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century. The Spanish Army has existed ...

. In 1777, Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of San Ildefonso. As dictated by the treaty, each nation would send a delegation to the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (; ), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda, Colonia, Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and ...

region to negotiate the border dispute between the Portuguese and

colonies. Azara was selected as a member of this delegation, departing quickly for the New World. The Portuguese delegation, however, never arrived, and Azara ended up remaining in the region from 1781 to 1801. To pass the time, he decided to create an accurate map of the region. On these expeditions, Azara began observing the nature of the region. Over the course of his time there, he "described 448 birds...This number is reduced to 381 when duplications of sex, age, and plumage are taken into account (eight remain unidentified), and 178 of them are the types upon which the scientific names are based.”Beddall, Barbara (1983). "Isolated Spanish Genius: Myth or Reality: Felix de Azara and the Birds of Paraguay". ''Journal of the History of Biology'' 16 (2): 228. He also identified 78 quadrupeds, 43 of which were new. A number of animals were named after him, including Azara's night monkey (''Aotus azarae''),

Azara's agouti Azara's agouti (''Dasyprocta azarae'') is an agouti species from the family Dasyproctidae Dasyproctidae is a family of large South American rodents, comprising the agoutis and acouchis. Their fur is a reddish or dark colour above, with a pal ...

(''Dasyprocta azarae''), Azara's grass mouse (''Akodon azarae''), Azara's spinetail (''Synallaxis azarae''), and Azara's tree iguana ('' Liolaemus azarai)''. Dorsum Azara on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

is also named after him. Before leaving South America, he sent his brother José Nicolás de Azara (then Spanish Ambassador at Paris) his zoological notes and observations, which Médéric Louis Élie Moreau de Saint-Méry published at Paris in 1801 under the title of ''Essai sur l'histoire naturelle des quadrupèdes du Paraguay''. In 1802 there appeared at Madrid the essay ''Apuntamientos para la Historia natural de los cuadrúpedos del Paraguay y Río de la Plata''. Upon his return to Europe in 1801, he traveled to Paris to meet his brother. There, he published ''Voyage dans l'Amerique meridionale depuis 1781 jusqu'en 1801'' (1809), which included his observations on many topics ranging from the geography of the region to characteristics of the many indigenous groups in the region. Following the death of his brother, Azara returned to Spain and held a variety of minor government positions. He died of pneumonia on 20 October 1821 and was buried in his family's vault in the town of his birth.

His works

His works were well received, though not without criticism. Azara had largely written his works to correct what he considered to be many errors in ''Histoire naturelle'' by

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (; 7 September 1707 – 16 April 1788) was a French Natural history, naturalist, mathematician, and cosmology, cosmologist. He held the position of ''intendant'' (director) at the ''Jardin du Roi'', now ca ...

. Intellectuals praised him for his thoroughness and accuracy.

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

had a high regard for Azara's work (despite the latter not being a professional naturalist), and in several of his books spoke approvingly of Azara's authority, citing his works on meteorology, insects, birds and archeology of the River Plate basin. Darwin also owned a translation of Azara's ''Essai sur L'Histoire Naturelle de Quadruped du Paraguay''.

References

;Attribution * ; Endnotes: **''Geografía física y esférica de las provircias del Paraguay y missiones Guaranies, compuesta en el año 1790'' (Montevideo, 1904, with portrait and biography by SCHULLER) ** TSCHUDI, ''Peru Reiseskizzen'' (St. Gall, 1846) ** IDEM, ''Fauna peruana'' ** BREHM, ''Das Thierleben'' (3rd ed.) **the works of Azara himself, enumerated in article * Félix Manuel is discussed at the end of this article on his older brother.

External links

Félix de Azara. Polymath Virtual Library, Fundación Ignacio Larramendi
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Azara, Felix 1742 births 1821 deaths People from Somontano de Barbastro Spanish naturalists Spanish geographers Spanish sailors Spanish scientists Spanish generals Deaths from pneumonia in Spain

Life

His works

References

Further reading

External links