Juan Ramón Koenig (1623

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

- 19 July 1709

Lima, Peru Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

) was a

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian scientist.

Biography

He was a priest and came to Peru in 1655 in the company of the viceroy, the Count of Alba de Aliste, who appointed him chaplain of the hospital of Espiritu Santo. Koenig taught various branches at the college of San Marcos, especially

cosmography The term cosmography has two distinct meanings: traditionally it has been the protoscience of mapping the general features of the cosmos, heaven and Earth; more recently, it has been used to describe the ongoing effort to determine the large-sca ...

. By royal order he visited in 1672 the principal places of Peru to take observations of their latitude and longitude, for which purpose he had to construct for himself several mathematical instruments that were not to be obtained in Peru. In 1677 he was appointed successor of Francisco Lozano in the chair of mathematics and was also appointed royal cosmographer. In 1781 he engraved with his own hands a map of Peru on a silver plate, which was highly praised by the French geographer, Louis Feuillet. When the viceroy, the Duke of La Palata, resolved in 1682 to fortify the city of Lima, Koenig, together with Gen. Venegas Osorio, formed the plan for the fortifications and directed their execution.

Works

Koenig wrote ''Problema de la duplicación del Cubo'' (Madrid, 1678), and from 1680 till 1708 published in Lima daily weather observations under the title of ''Conocimiento de los tiempos''. During his last years he had accumulated much material for a geography of Peru, but, unfortunately, after his death a friend burned nearly all his papers to avoid making public his private matters, and thus the manuscript was lost.

References

* 1623 births 1709 deaths Viceroyalty of Peru people Peruvian scientists {{Peru-scientist-stub