José Arechavaleta (1838–1912) José Arechavaleta (27 September 1838, Urioste, near

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

– 16 June 1912,

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

) was a Spanish-born

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and

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 ...

, active in Uruguay. At the age of 18, he emigrated to

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, where he made the acquaintanceship of

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

José Ernesto Gibert (1818–1886). In 1862 he obtained a degree in pharmacy, and later taught classes in botany,

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

and

natural history 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 ...

at the

University of the Republic The University of the Republic (, sometimes ''UdelaR'') is a public research university in Montevideo, Uruguay. It is the country's oldest and largest university, as well as one of the largest public universities in South America in terms of en ...

. In 1892 he was appointed general director of the natural history museum in Montevideo, a position he kept until his death in 1912.JSTOR Global Plants
biography In Uruguay, he studied and collected insects from all parts of the country, being particularly interested in

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

. As a botanist, he published a major work on

grasses Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in ...

native to the country. He is credited with establishing

bacteriology Bacteriology is the branch and specialty of biology that studies the Morphology (biology), morphology, ecology, genetics and biochemistry of bacteria as well as many other aspects related to them. This subdivision of microbiology involves the iden ...

laboratories at the University Institute of Experimental Hygiene. In 1899 the plant genus '' Arechavaletaia'' was named in his honor by Carlos Luigi Spegazzini.

Principal works

* ''Las gramíneas uruguayas'', 1894 -

Gramineae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated i ...

of Uruguay. * ''Flora uruguaya; enumeración y descripción breve de las plantas conocidas hasta hoy y de algunas nuevas que nacen espontaneamente y viven en la República Uruguaya'', 1901 - Uruguayan flora, list and brief description of the plants known in the Uruguayan Republic.

Honors

Some botanical species were named in Arechavaleta's honor: * (

Arecaceae The Arecaceae () is a family (biology), family of perennial plant, perennial, flowering plants in the Monocotyledon, monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbing palm, climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly k ...

) '' Cocos arechavaletana'' Barb.Rodr. * (

Malvaceae Malvaceae (), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include Theobroma cacao, cacao, Cola (plant), cola, cotton, okra, Hibiscus sabdariffa, ...

) '' Pavonia arechavaletana'' Krapov. & FryxellBonplandia (Corrientes) 19(1): 81 2010

References

1838 births 1912 deaths People from Bilbao Academic staff of the University of the Republic (Uruguay) 19th-century Spanish botanists Spanish emigrants to Uruguay Uruguayan botanists Uruguayan geologists Uruguayan entomologists {{Uruguay-botanist-stub